Kotaro FUKUI (福井江太郎)

Kotaro FUKUI’s work  addresses themes of Nature, Body, and Eastern Spirituality, primarily through the motifs of irises and ostriches.  The Silent Flowers series parades luscious blue irises across brilliant, majestic gold backgrounds.  The eloquent Flightless series portrays ostriches and investigates movement through line: the rotund shape and rich black coloring of the ostrich's body in juxtaposition with the linear shape of the bird’s extended neck, setting the stage for the magnetism of opposites. 

Fukui’s work, although modern, is notably steeped in the tradition of “Nihonga”—literally “Japanese-style painting.” The materials he uses are time-honored, including “washi,” the tough plant fiber  that makes up traditional Japanese paper, as well as natural mineral pigments and Indian ink. Under the influence of traditional Japanese art, Fukui’s vision and talent unfold through his choice of materials and his lyrical expression.

But Fukui has also been greatly affected by the work of the innovative Japanese artist Matazou Kayama (1927–2004). Although influenced by renowned Kayama, Fukui has found a subject and theme uniquely his own, the ostrich. Fukui is fascinated by the beautiful eyes and the shape of the ostrich. The ostrich paintings, in a certain sense, are not strictly about the ostrich. The ostrich acts as a metaphor for an underlying meaning.  Fukui uses the ostrich body to convey the existence of opposites and as a means for the exploration of opposites. His paintings surround us with areas “in between”; interim spaces that illustrate contrasting notions such as Black and White, Big and Small, Straight and Curved. The unique way Fukui captures these spaces allows for new forms of reality, new-found truths through the expression of conflicting opposites.  Fukui is equally eloquent in painting on Japanese paper (“Washi”)⁽¹⁾  and on canvas.

 ⁽¹⁾    Washi is a type of paper made in Japah.  The word comes from wa meaning Japanese and shi meaning paper, and the term is used to describe paper made by hand in the traditional manner.  Washi is generally tougher than ordinary paper made from wood pulp, and is used in many traditional arts.  The natural elements of washi allow the paint to "breathe" by first absorbing, then expelling moisture, which is suitable for both humid and dry environments.