One of the most common desires that we all seek as a human being is to be content, or simply put, to be happy.
I have been trying to follow the Eastern philosophy of recognizing one of the important aspects of time known as the "present moment". In this teaching, there is a constant emphasis to enjoy and appreciate the realm of "the now", and not to focus on the obsolete past or the unknown future. The bliss for life is now, this very moment. In addition, the teaching suggests to strip away the excessiveness and to deal only with the core of the matter. In this way it allows one to see perfection in the imperfect daily life.
In Japanese arts such as judo(the way of balance), kendo(the way of sword), chado(the way of tea), shodo(the way of calligraphy) for example, the idea is to manifest the techniques, to focus on the ordinary daily life, and to let go of one's imposed limitations. One can react intuitively and naturally so that the results would be "artless art".
For the past few years, these ideas have influenced my process of art making. The art derives from the inspirations I get from immediacy of our simple and complicated daily surroundings. The title given to each work suggests philosophical overtone, so that the artworks might be used as "tools" to reflect and think about one's life. Contrary to the computer driven techniques, the simplest ordinary materials are used to execute the artworks. Yet they retain the traditional value of "pleasant, harmonious things to look at". To sustain the conceptual aspect of temporality of these artworks, they are executed directly on the gallery environment. This breaks the barrier between the art and the viewer and suggests the non-preciousness of these artworks.
They will only last for that "moment".
Akira Yoshikawa
All work is created by and © copyright to Akira Yoshikawa, 1974 to 2012. Nothing may be used nor any derivative works created without express consent from the artist.