Kusho is the title of a new series of works by Shinichi Maruyama that has appeared at several international art fairs, including Art Basel Miami Beach (and soon at the original location), Photo London and Paris Photo. Kusho is a phrase coined by Maruyama from the kanji for sky and write/draw. Shinichi Maruyama’s work is influenced by the Japanese sense of beauty. This sense of beauty can be found in the concept of wabi-sabi, which refers to the beauty of imperfection and understated elegance. The media in this case, sumi ink and water, are not forced to fit the artist’s will; rather, the artist finds his will and the materials combining to create elegant arches and forms that are simple yet mystifying. There is also a great sense of ma, the Japanese word used to describe negative space, something which is found in the art of Japanese calligraphy, as well as in the design of a traditional rock garden.

As a young student, I often wrote Chinese characters in sumi ink. I loved the nervous, precarious feeling of sitting before an empty white page, the moment just before my brush touched the paper. I was always excited to see the unique result of each new brushing […] Remembering those childhood moments, of ink and empty page, I fashioned a large ‘brush’ and bucket of ink. I get the same feeling, a precarious nervous excitement, as I stand before the empty studio space. Each stroke is unique, ephemeral. I can never copy or recreate them. I know something fantastic is happening, ‘a decisive moment’, but I can’t fully understand the event until I look at these captured afterimages, these paintings in the sky.