It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.
—
Henry David Thoreau

For many years my art was focused on photorealistic portraits, painted with acrylics. I was sitting weeks in front of the same painting, using tiny little brushes. It was so tempting to add and add, and to optimize the piece until it was ‘perfect’ – if possible.

As an artist, grown up with western traditions and techniques, one is used to retouch, overpaint or erase on the way to the desired, final piece of art.

This is not possible when you work with Sumi ink on Washi paper. Every ‘mistake’ shows. This technique forces an artist to concentrate, to think first and also to reduce. The result is always a reflection of Wabi-Sabi, the love of natural imperfection. When I met the Asian Sumi-e technique it was a big challenge and a huge liberation!

The act of ink painting is like a meditative process; a constant dialog between the artist, his or her thoughts and the behavior of the ink on the paper.

In this collection I’m exploring the contemplative, puristic aspect of this technique and the beauty of simplicity. I focus on flat, abstract forms (brushed, drawn, poured or dipped), reduced compositions and on subtle colors; only using different washes of Japanese Sumi ink and mineral pigments.

An approach that is not only related to Zen and Japanese aesthetic principles like Wabi-Sabi and Shibui but also to the tradition of Color Field Painting (mid-century art movement linked closely to Abstract Expressionism).

Sumi (墨) is the Japanese term for black ink; made mainly from soot of burnt lamp oil or pinewood, animal glue and perfume.

Sumi-e (墨絵) is the Japanese term for East Asian brush painting, also known as ‘ink and wash’, that uses black ink (Sumi) in different concentrations on rice paper or Japanese Washi. The word e means image.

Zen (鉓) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism, strongly influenced by Taoism. The word origins in Sanskrit and translates as ‘absorption’ or ‘meditative state’.

Wabi-Sabi (侘寂) is a Japanese aesthetic concept that appreciates the beauty of imperfection, transience and simplicity, finding value in the natural, aged and weathered aspects of objects and experiences.

Shibui (渋い) is a Japanese term that refers to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle and unobtrusive beauty. The seven elements of shibusa are simplicity, implicity, modesty, naturalness, everydayness, imperfection, and silence.

Contemplation Paintings

The Contemplation collection also includes the following series, exploring specific, related aspects of the original concept:

Haiku

The artworks from the Haiku series are focused on minimal, painterly and lyric compositions, merging Japanese aesthetic principles with the idea of Color Field Paintings. Like in the eponymous Japanese poems – not everything is said. The Haiku pieces are working with abstract, fragmental and open representations that are emotionally completed through the viewer's experience.

Breath Meditations

This is an ongoing, contemplative series, working with repetitive elements, all created while practicing Ganana. Ganana is a Buddhist breath counting technique that focuses on drawing mental attention to breathing by counting numerically inhalation and exhalation. Counting breaths is a fundamental part of Anapanasati (mindful breathing meditation). In Japanese Zen tradition the technique is called Susoku-Kan (数息観 / number breath viewing).

Condensed Matters

The artworks from this minimal series are exclusively based on bold, sometimes multicolored brushstrokes. With this basic vocabulary I’m forced to focus on compact and powerful compositions, to reduce, condense and concentrate.

Zen-Sumi Prints

Some ideas from the Contemplation collection need digital techniques to be realized, some original pieces, studies or details have the potential for further developments. I later digitally alter, rearrange and publish those as prints – celebrating the beauty of Sumi ink, Zen and Japanese aesthetic ideals, including Wabi Sabi, Shibui, Iki and others.

Hidden Moons

Small, self-contained series appreciating simplicity and the beauty of the moon; digitally combining Sumi ink drawings and a white full moon disk.