Artist Statement
While working for a contemporary art gallery in San Francisco, I first encountered the works of Soichiro Tomioka and his ‘Snow Country’ series. Intrigued, I visited his museum in Niigata, Japan to find that most of his landscape works were painted with all white. It felt tranquil, peaceful being surrounded by nothing but snow.
A few years later I was working for another art gallery in Tokyo where I came across works by Emile Galle. At his museum in Nancy, France his late glass and ceramic works dealt with empty spaces and the fragile beauty of objects such as mayflies and ink cap mushrooms. What struck me was the artist's ability to accept things as they are, making every thing and every moment precious because they are ephemeral.
As a child I often accompanied my mother to her weekly Buddhist temple services. Although I am not devout like her anymore, with age I became naturally drawn to finding the order of the universe and Zen Buddism in life.
I feel that people in the world today could stand to realize more the practical benefits of applying Zen Buddhism to everyday issues such as diplomatic relations, politics, environmental issues, food and interpersonal relationships.
The joy of discovering the beauty of Zen wisdom is the motivation of my work.