1990: Noto for Obon

August 1990
Kyoto

The recent heat wave has broken records all over the country with temperatures in the Kyoto area in the high 90s for days. Our last rain was in mid-July, so everyone struggles to keep gardens growing and landscaping alive. My potted plants are in full bloom, but the rest of the yard is parched. No rain is predicted for another week, and everyone complains. The cicadas drone incessantly in the trees of the park across the street and are lucky if they escape droves of young boys, long-handled nets in hand, who collect them in plastic box-cages slung over their shoulders. In spite of the dry weather, the rice paddies are their brilliant mid-summer green achieved by the constantly monitored irrigation system used here. My walks along the small river behind my house are limited to the early evening, just after dark, with a slight breeze often blowing. It’s hardly cool, but a needed change from a long day of studio work. Recently the early rising moon has added a visual counterpoint to the dark sky with its orange glow close to the horizon and, later, its white brilliance in a cloudless sky.

Soon after my arrival here (LA-Osaka non-stop) in June, I left for 10 days in Tokyo to see friends, experience kabuki, and add to the UGA textile collection. There is an excellent antique fair every year in June and I have always found good material there. My focus now is itajime (clamp board resist) silk juban (under-kimono). As they were used only for undergarments, the juban are also often patchworked of a variety of fabrics. The process is no longer practiced in Japan and there is very little written about it in English or Japanese. I was fortunate to find some good pieces both at the fair and in antique kimono shops in Tokyo. Best of all, I was able to purchase three of the carved wooden boards used (in sets) to produce the designs. I was also able to research the process at the Toyama Museum near Tokyo and, later, with a private collector near Osaka. I’m making some progress on putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

I arrived here expecting to begin work immediately on a commission of a large work, similar to the one I did for the International Textile Fair in 1987, for the new Itami Craft Museum near Osaka. In an unexcepted turnabout, the company that owns the work decided to sell it to me and the museum was quite delighted to have the exact work that they coveted. Not more delighted than I, however, as it meant my time was my own from the start — and start, I did! Ideas that had been brewing since last year were reviewed again and the effort began on new larger works in a modular format. The base is the same antique off-white silk damask obi fabric that I used for “November Tale” last year (see enclosed card). I had found a number of them in Tokyo. The module is a 60 cm (24″) square utilizing the full width of the obi fabric and the grid is on a 15 cm (6″) module. The concept remains the same — a transformed photo-landscape captured behind the window-grid. The focus, however, is “pure gold” (actually sllver leaf colored gold) with the grid in a dark blue leaf. This Midas look seems quite appropriate in the Japan of today.

The images of this initial work are from the Itami Museum (that purchased my work) where the architecture of the new buildings echo the old sake warehouses of the area and blend well with the traditional buildings that border one side of the site. A combination of photos creates a panorama of about 300 degrees — and includes a few of my special out-of-context additions. I have set a deadline of September 1 to complete the work which consists of nine panels for a total size of 60 x 540 cm (2′ x 18′). The printing phase is almost completed, the panels are ready, and the mounting will begin soon. Many of the steps in the process were new for me and various trials were necessary. I have a large studio space, but not large enough to get the full-scale mockup on the wall. I’m anxious to see it all together. The next works will be similar in most aspects but of a smaller size (two to three panels each). I want to try a new silk screen process where one can go from the paper xerox directly to screen making without emulsion, darkrooms, etc. Magic!

The Obon holiday (kind of all souls’ days) is soon upon us when every Japanese has a holiday, travels or has guests. I will join Kei Takayana, former English language student at UGA now working in Osaka on a visit to his parents’ home in Kanazawa, four hours north of Kyoto by express bus. It will be a return to Kanazawa for me to explore outside of the city this time especially the Noto Peninsula thrusting into the Japan Sea –a welcomed change from the 12 to 15 hour days spent in the studio recently.

A few days after my return from Kanazawa, I’m off to Korea for a second visit there taking advantage of my cheaper (than to Narita) round trip ticket to Seoul. My dear friends here (whose constant help allows me to thrive in Kyoto) Tsuji-san and Kawashima-san have organized a show of Japanese young ceramic artists in Seoul and I will join them. I will be gone for six days with an overnight stop in Tokyo on my return. While in Seoul I’ll renew acquaintances with fiber artists I met last year, visit museums and schools, and do some sightseeing. I will miss Page and Jeanne this trip as we had such a wonderful time there together last year.

The end of August will be a very busy time finishing the rnounting and final touches on the new work by the September 1 deadline. I’ll have a week or so to catch my breath before I leave for Tokyo and my solo show at Wacoal Ginza Art Space. “November Tale” will look quite different in the newly remodeled space at Wacoal than it did last year at GalleryGallery here in Kyoto where we had to construct a special wall down the center of the space. At Wacoal it will be one continuous story from the entrance to the final chapter, without interruption.

While in Tokyo I’ll hit the fall antique market and attend a concert of “The Pepperoni Choir”, a small group with Takeshi Asai as keyboard player (now an IBM exec), in Yokohama. It was seven years ago that I attended his live concert in front of Daimaru Department Store, Kyoto, promoting UCC coffee. Of course, I’ll see lots of friends at my show, see exhibitions and continue my research on itajime as time allows.

The first months of this stay have gone exceedingly well with work in high gear much earlier than usual. The heat has been terrible, but I have mostly been working in my air conditioned space avoiding the worst of it. The next few weeks should bring some relief and by mid-September early fall will arrive. I look forward to the long fall season stretching into late November and the time to continue my work and enjoy beautiful Kyoto and surroundings. I hope September also finds each of you in good health and with the anticipation of a productive fall season.

Glen Kaufman

c/o Kamei
12-12 Kawamukai Shimokaiinji
Nagaokakyo-Shi, Kyoto 617