In search of the true nature of sound
"I want to keep drawing things like a spider spins a spider's web," Professor Matsubara's words - I feel a sense of embarrassment that the true meaning of these words cannot be understood through knowledge, nor can they be expressed in words. However, when I visited Professor Matsubara's studio this time, I felt something from a part of the scenery I saw as a person and as the artist Matsubara Ken.
The Sound of Ken Matsubara
There is sound in Professor Matsubara's works. This phenomenon of "there is sound" is an extremely mysterious experience.
Sound is something that should be "heard." Indeed, sounds can be heard from the expressions of paintings. However, there is a scene that can be enjoyed from Professor Matsubara's work that cannot be described by that alone.
The presence of absent sounds emerges, and I feel as if they are resonating with the form of a soul. I feel something similar to the sensation I get when I go to the sea or mountains, or when I come into contact with the divine energy of a temple or shrine. I was able to feel part of the true nature of this soul's resonance in the brimming environment of Nasu-Shiobara.
The high sunlight of Nasu is softly illuminated by the swaying trees. I watched Professor Matsubara working on his piece in his studio lit by natural light. There seemed to be no hesitation in his appearance. As if appearing there, as if his body was following the flow, the scene emerged from the white washi paper . It was as if it resonated with the flow of the sound of the trees. This sound is the sound of the trees, but it is not that sound. The essence of the existence of sound comes to life on the screen. I felt as if he was capturing the nature that is created by entrusting his body to the surroundings of existing in this universe.
In search of the true nature of sound
In the afternoon, Professor Matsubara said, "There's a place I'd really like to take you to," and guided us to the Yuhi Falls in Nasu-Shiobara. It was deeper in the mountains than the studio where Professor Matsubara lives.
It was around the time when the September Double Ninth Festival had passed, and the trees were beginning to prepare for autumn.
Here, sound, scent, and vision all coexisted. In the city, the whole, which is separated and cannot be felt, becomes a landscape that touches your skin. Experiencing this landscape, I entered the mountain path beside the river, walking along an unmaintained concrete road. The earth resonated from under my feet, and the vibrations penetrated my entire body. A real sense of the circulation of life, which can only be obtained because it is beyond human control. I felt the resonance of the earth from Professor Matsubara's work. The leaves of a large fern grew strong on the dimly lit mountainside, screened by trees. Looking down, a river flowed, nourishing Nasu's abundant nature. The sounds I sensed with my ears were those of the flowing river and the falling waterfall. The "presence of sound" that I felt by being involved in this chain certainly flowed through my blood and resonated with my inspiration.
I walked for about 30 minutes. A large Katsura tree that had been watching over this forest for a long time appeared before my eyes. My soul trembled. I felt as if sound really existed here. Various invisible sounds echoed and took "shapes" and appeared in the landscape of my mind.
The round sound particles that appear as a characteristic of Professor Matsubara's work. I wonder if they are something that cannot be explained only by the sound that stimulates the senses of hearing coming from the waterfall. Perhaps I cannot describe or express it even with the sound that I felt. In Professor Matsubara's work, I felt that I could feel Professor Matsubara's sound resonating on the screen by surrendering myself to the rich nature of Nasu.
The world depicted by Matsubara Ken
"I want to continue drawing things in the same way that a spider spins a spider's web." These words are heavily based on Matsubara-sensei's wisdom and experience. It is something that only Matsubara Ken-sensei can understand. However, by placing myself even a little in the figure, work, and environment that Matsubara-sensei draws, I was able to further enjoy the world in which we are placed in this universe, which can be felt in Matsubara Ken-sensei's works.
The world we see only exists within the range of our field of vision. But what about the world we feel and imagine? The trembling of the soul that resides in the human being. It spreads across the horizon of our mental images, responding to the world around us. Not only sound, but the dragons that Matsubara-sensei draws are one example of this. Are sounds invisible to the eye? Are dragons just creatures of the imagination? The dragons that Matsubara-sensei draws do indeed exist. In each of Matsubara-sensei's works, a being that transcends the visual sense is born, thanks to his technique of drawing the horizon of the image he senses, his experience, and above all, his outstanding sensitivity to surrender himself to the world around him and cultivate images within the connections that imbue his works with the resonance of the soul.
Ippodo Yohei Okamura