Aiming for millennial beauty
He started writing calligraphy at the age of three, accompanied by his older brother. He had a natural talent for spatial ability and the beauty of writing calligraphy. As he continued to write calligraphy, he began to feel uncomfortable with calligraphy that was contained in a mounting. As his calligraphy career reached its 50th year, he reached his current state of mind, breaking through the barriers of Masu Shikishi paper.
Using kana characters as a motif, the spatial expression written on washi paper that lets light through and resembles a feathered robe wrapped in the wind is one of a kind, and the written kana characters seem to breathe life back into the air of a thousand years, creating a new horizon for calligraphy.
Aiming for millennial beauty
The unique beauty of Japan cannot be described in a single word; it is the product of our long history and the sense of beauty embedded in our genes. It is expressed in various forms, such as the beauty of utility and Japanese painting. The "kana characters" written by Keiko Minoura can be said to be the embodiment of this unique Japanese beauty.
Kana characters were born in the Heian period. Minoura created a work based on the motif of the Masu Shikishi, written by Fujiwara no Yukinari a thousand years ago. The gentle and graceful brushstrokes of Fujiwara no Yukinari have transcended a thousand years. Minoura has broken the barrier of the Masu Shikishi and written the thoughts of the Kana characters, which had been confined within the paper for a long time, into the space of Japanese paper, creating a new story of calligraphy that transcends time and space. The space of the Kana characters created by Minoura is reminiscent of Joan Miro (1893-1983), and it is not just space, but also the passage of time between the past, present, and future. The calligraphy of the past, Minoura's present calligraphy, and the imagination of the future felt by observing the travels between the past and present. Although they will never meet, a bond that transcends a thousand years is woven through the calligraphy, connected on the horizon of the soul.
This is partly due to the effect of the kana characters that Minoura uses as his motif. Kana characters are unique to Japan and are not bound by the characteristics of ideographic kanji characters. By using kana characters and expressing them gracefully, emotions and scenes are expressed in a tangible form while still having meaning. In other words, by using the tool of calligraphy, the kana characters come to life, creating a dreamlike dialogue and infinite beauty in the mind.
The "kana characters" expressed by Mr. Minoura can be said to be a new horizon for the "calligraphy" of "kana characters", different from the avant-garde calligraphy of Nankoku Hidai and Sokyu Ueda. If avant-garde calligraphers are the Duchamp of "calligraphy", Mr. Minoura is like Raphael of "kana characters" calligraphy, creating a renaissance in calligraphy, reviving the beauty of "kana characters", and creating a path that will continue for a thousand years to come.
Keiko Minoura
Biography
Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1972
2015 Solo Exhibition at Kakian
2022 3rd Exhibition of the Future of Hanging Scrolls and Paintings Sankeien Sash Cover Ink Painting
2023 Tokyo National Museum Okyokan First exhibition of calligraphers
2024 Solo Exhibition at Ginza Ippodo
Ippodo Yohei Okamura
