Archive June 2019 Takeshi Takahara

Takeshi Takahara
Poems to the Winds

June 11 – July 21, 2019

Opening Reception :
Friday, June 14, 7-9 pm

Takeshi’s Artist Talk
Sunday June 23, 3 pm

[Show as slideshow]

Artist’s Statement :

The wind is the theme for this exhibition.

The wind is invisible, but is an indispensable element for sustaining the growth of vegetation and all creatures including ourselves. It also possesses mystery as well as the capacity to evoke our sensory perceptions.

I grew up in a small village on the eastern coast of central Japan. Most residents of the communities there worked in farming and fishing and so depended on the seasons. They had a unique ability to cope with all things ephemeral predicting weather conditions by looking up at the sky, watching how the clouds formed or moved and checking the moisture and temperature of the air.

There are numerous words to describe various phases of the winds in Japanese, which sound much like poems to me, for instance — Kunpu — refreshing south wind blowing over the fresh green forest in the early summer. The exposures to such an environment provided me a fertile ground for awareness and nurture my sensibility relating to the natural phenomena.

I created this suite of intaglio prints that focus on lyrical aspects of the winds. These are the explorations of sensory experience of seasonal winds.

Technical terms and methods :

Four years ago, I developed an alternative approach to creating intaglio prints without using metal (copper or zinc) plates and mordant (acids). I am able to achieve unique results with little compromise from the traditional methods.

I use ¼” plywood and spackling as a substratum instead of copperplate. I apply a thin even coat of spackling over plywood. It is ready for use when it is dried. I draw (scratch) with various pointed tools. When the drawing is done, the surface is sealed with polyurethane, as the surface is porous and absorbent. Now it is very much the same as the traditional methods from here. Ink is applied and the excess is wiped off the surface, which will leave ink only in the grooves. The plywood plate is placed on the press bed, a dampened sheet of paper is laid, and a few blankets are placed on top. When it goes through the press, the pressure will force the paper to pick up the ink from the grooves.

Note: this is a simple explanation of a singular approach to intaglio print.

— Takeshi Takahara