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YUNOKI SAMIRO 2005 This has been a long hot summer; I hope you did not find it too exhausting! I spent it preparing for an exhibition I will hold this autumn at the Gallery Tom in which I will show the results of my work this year. However, I must confess that it was actually last year that I thought I had decided what I was going to make, but then I became unsure, and found myself unable to decide exactly how to proceed. In May, just when I was becoming anxious about the approaching deadline for the exhibition, I set off on a trip to England and in fact, this acted as a spur in encouraging me to finish the work. The trip enabled me to fulfil an ambition I had held for many years. The main purpose was, in a word, to experience the countryside of England at first hand, and to get a glimpse of English country life. Fortunately I was able to stay at a very appropriate Bed and Breakfast found by an English friend, and was finally able to realise the wish I had cherished for such a long time.
A long held ambition was to stand on the top of hill above St Ives, a small fishing port in South Western England, and to experience for myself the feeling of Shoji Hamada who had travelled to England as a youth with Bernard Leach, returning home to Japan in 1922. In those days Japan was undergoing rapid modernisation and westernisation, and Japanese intellectuals were in danger of losing confidence. Hamada was convinced that the restoration of their self respect was essential if they were to maintain their position in society. He felt it was essential to respect and preserve the history and tradition of his own country, and thus to bring to fruition a true sense of identity. So he went to England and experienced English life in order to see how that process had taken place in England. In other words, he looked upon England as a mirror in which he was able to reflect upon his own country and upon himself. Hamada and Leach established a pottery at St Ives and for three years studied together the art of ceramics, producing many fine objects. Hamada was enlightened and inspired by what he saw in the country life in England, how it had put down deep roots in nature and emerged organically from the countryside. He was convinced that the objects crafted in such a wholesome natural environment, yet useful for daily life, pointed the way that he ought to follow in future. It is said that Hamada experienced a particular moment of revelation. One day he was sprawled out on the hill above St Ives when he heard the call of a cuckoo. In that instant he felt that he had realised his ambition, he was truly in England now. He had attained the goal to which he had aspired for so long. When I took part in a Kokuten-Kogei exhibition in England some years ago, I investigated the relationship of the Kokuten-Kogei movement and England. When I came across this episode in Hamada's life, I longed to stand on the top of the hill above St Ives myself at some time in the future. I was happy to be able to realize this wish on this trip.
It was fortunate that towards the end of my visit to England I was able to visit an exhibition of International Arts & Crafts at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. This examined how the Arts and Crafts Movements led by William Morris had influenced the movement in other countries. The highlight for me, as a Japanese, was the section on Japan. The works of the early stage of the Mingei movement, led by Soetsu Yanagi, were richly displayed both in quality and in number. It showed how the unique and creative work of craft artists such as Hamada had recognised and appreciated throughout the world. I returned from my trip to England very much encouraged. I told myself that above all I must relax and compose myself, and thus at last in the early summer I was able to start work for the exhibition at Gallery Tom. I still spent too much time on the preliminaries. At first I had planned to display a picture scroll, katazome dyed tapestries, collages, and sculptures in the exhibition. My first step was to start work on the picture scroll with the title "A peasant's wife" based on a folk story written by Ado Murayama. I decided to draw it in transparent clear water colours because an important feature of the story reflects an image of blue and red light and black darkness. I was afraid that this medium might be difficult to use, so had avoided it in the past, but in fact I found it be just as expressive as opaque water colours (gouache), for this I have to thank a young water colour painter who gave me some advice. I then moved on to the dyeing work. As I have written elsewhere, I have made many tapestries in the past. For me, form does not come into the question. I do not use dyeing only for decoration, rather to create designs which print naturally, blending with the cloth. That is the basis for my work. Some people may question whether there is any difference from my original work, however, I would argue that my approach has fundamentally changed. When it came to working on the collages, the subject matter was "The picture of night" written by Ado Murayama. The story was about a poor painter who wanted to draw a picture that would give him total satisfaction, but no sooner than he finished the work than he passed away. This was a difficult task because the background of the collage was black. Do you know how difficult it is to see a crow on a dark night? It is not easy but if we watch with great care we can detect it. I struggled to convey this subtlety in my work. Finally, as to the sculpture I can say nothing now because I have yet to find a solution. However, I have decided to shape it using iron and kaolin. It is my first experience in working with these materials. I thank my many friends for their support.
Please come to see my exhibition. I'll be there on Sunday and Thursday around noon. I am looking forward to seeing you. The exhibition will be held at Gallery Tom from 5th November to 25th December (closed on Mondays).
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