■WORKS■

「Stone Group 2013」　2013・5/18〜6/23

,　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Takahashi Noriko (The Director,Masaki Art Museum)

Now, at the Masaki Memorial House adjoining the Masaki Art Museum, a group of stones are arranged on the floor. This is Tomoda Taeko’s Stone Group 2013.

Tomoda is a visual artist who makes paper. However, it is not like traditional Japanese washi paper. She works with kozo (paper mulberry) as a base, mixing in a wide variety of materials to create the pulp. These materials range from iron to charcoal, persimmon tannin, and the bark of the ganpi shrub to, occasionally, diamonds. The result is truly marvelous paper.

Tomoda produces this paper on the rooftop of the building that houses her gallery. She lays out the materials and lets the sun and wind dry them naturally. This is not a one-time process: she repeats the mixing of materials and natural drying over and over, making layer upon layer. Tomoda Taeko’s paper has a signature style that is thick, heavy, and richly expressive. She is highly acclaimed both for her experimental approach and the final product.  

In recent years, Tomoda has begun rolling the paper she has made into stones. Or rather, something that looks just like stones. They are in fact stone-shaped, hollow art objects. She was invited to arrange them atop the tatami mats of a large room in the Masaki Memorial House. The group of stones appeared to have rolled there naturally.

 Tomoda pours all her creativity into the mixing of materials for pulp, and it is this process that determines the color of the “stones.” It also determines their hardness and emotional resonance. There are large, medium, and small stones. There are rare stones, mineral stones, and precious stones.

 When she uses India ink or persimmon tannin, the paper objects radiate a Japanese aesthetic. The stones arrayed atop the tatami are like a rock garden, a quintessentially Japanese landscape. The act of substitution, such as paper objects for stones, is also one with deep roots in Japanese culture. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　[Translated by Christopher Stephens]