1991: Fushimi Inari

December 3. 1991
Kyoto

Dear Friends:

The fall color was not as spectacular as most years, and my schedule did not allow much free time for touring. However, a walk through the tunnels of red orange torii (gates) at Fushimi Inari Shrine and down the mountain to nearby Tofukuji Temple with Jason Pollen, visiting from Kansas City. was the same kind of fall experience that I recall from previous years. The more muted colors of the reds and yellows were still impressive against the greens of the pines and the total dusky palette.

This year in Japan has been an especially productive one with my two solo museum shows and a significant body of new work completed that will be exhibited next year. The first exhibit was at the new Itami Craft Center near Osaka, with a large space I could divide with moveable walls. The work, separated into its various phases, looked quite perfect there. In September the same show was installed in the Azabu Museum in Roppongi, Tokyo in a smaller space without the same impact as the earlier show. The opening was very enjoyable with many friends there, lively conversation and happy reunions.

Soon after the opening I left for a week in Seoul, my third trip, which occurred during the Thanksgiving holiday, not an ideal time to be there. Regardless, I saw many of my friends there, went on a long Sunday hike in the mountains and photographed new material for my work, concentrating on the tile roofs and traditional architecture. I had time to explore my favorite areas of the city on my own and see new locations as well.

The new work this year incorporated several new approaches. The most significant change was the use of black obi fabric which allowed me, with certain kinds of images, to create a “negative” grid of the black fabric itself. This eliminated the need to print the grid as I had done last year. The images were details of the tile roofs, photographed in Seoul, enlarged to a greater scale than before and manipulated in a variety of ways. 1 completed three large works before my Tokyo show including one byobu (folding screen), a first for me. It was a challenging and rewarding experience and I was able to use the screen in my tatami room and enjoy it daily. Additional multiple panel works were completed in October and November using new photos from Seoul.

One of my goals this year was to design and have my own fabric produced, including a woven grid. A friend with a small obi company introduced me to several weaving companies. A necktie weaving company seemed to offer the most promise. After a number of long and detailed discussions we moved ahead with the plan. Time and cost factors influenced the amount of experimentation, but satisfactory trials were completed in early November. By the middle of the month the first lengths of fabric were completed. Next, they were backed with traditional paper and two widths joined together. The presence of a grid once again allowed me to use earlier types of images of city scapes, and I completed a medium sized work just a few days ago. This work is a true patchwork of traditional tile (kawara) roofed houses in the Nishijin weaving district of Kyoto. It incorporates the bird’s eye view from a rooftop as well as aspects of the horizon.

In late October a group of friends traveled to Ibaraki-ken to see the Christo Umbrella Project. Two of us spent a few days in Tokyo seeing shows there and a Japanese fiber show an hour north of Tokyo. We all converged in Mito, a city near the Christo site, with a museum that had a special exhibition of the project. As we were watching the news the night before our tour we were shocked to learn of Christo’s death in California and the closing of all the umbrellas! We were dismayed after traveling all that distance from Kyoto.

We were undaunted, however, viewed the exhibition and then headed off by two local train lines and, finally, a local bus to the lower portion of the valley where the umbrellas began. Even closed, standing like blue sentinels in the tranquil countryside they had a visually inspiring effect. About half of the bus passengers were, like ourselves, out to see the umbrellas and exclamations were heard as a new group was spotted. After a time, we came upon a small river valley with 5 or 6 still open in the riverbed. Shouts of joy went up all around and at the next stop all the non-locals piled out of the bus and back down the road. We had many fine views, from several bridges high above and at the riverbank level as well. To make the event even more memorable, I, in my excitement, miscalculated a jump over a ditch and ended up flat out in the mud and cold water. My group rallied to my aid and cleaned me up as best as possible, but soaking wet corduroy pants are not apt to dry very quickly — and they didn’t. Finally, on the express train back to Tokyo I had a chance to change into dry and clean clothes. Later, on the Shinkansen to Kyoto, we had a party to celebrate my birthday. The whole trip was a memorable event.

A final social event of this Kyoto stay was a friend’s traditional Japanese wedding reception. The ceremony was conducted at the largest shrine in Kyoto attended by the immediate families. The reception was held in a large inn on the Kamo River with 125 guests seated on tatami, each with a small table (and backrest!). There were a few formal speeches at the beginning after the bride and groom entered in tradition wedding kimono, followed by breaking open of the sake keg and toasts to the newlyweds. At this point the party became much less formal as quests moved about toasting and chatting. A meal-of-many-courses was served in an informal atmosphere. Then, it was time for my performance. I had agreed, some months previously, to a 5-minute speech, in Japanese. It was a foolish decision. I spent considerable time practicing a friend’s translation of my comment s and never felt I had mastered it. I bumbled through, everyone was very kind to this foreign professor, and I was assured everyone understood most of what I was trying to say. I could really relax after that ordeal was over and enjoy the remainder of the party which lasted several more hours.

I will soon be off to Hawaii for my annual stop over, with a lecture planned at the University in Honolulu. I’ll spend a few days again on the Big Island, then stopover in Los Angeles for two nights with Page and Jeanne before traveling on to winter in Wisconsin. Mother will then come back south for three months. Page and Jeanne will be in Georgia for the holiday and before we know it 1992 will have arrived.

I wish you the very best for the Christmas Season and a most happy and successful New Year of the Monkey. Saru, that is my year, and one of the especially lucky ones.