Hiroshi Senju
“Nihon-ga reminds us that nature and humans are on the same side.”
While ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock printing) and sumi-e (monochrome painting) are now household words, nihon-ga (Japanese-style painting) is not yet well known outside Japan. Here, Hiroshi Senju, an internationally acclaimed nihon-ga painter based in New York, gives us an eye-opening explanation of the heart of nihon-ga and shares his philosophy of working as an artist.
To begin, would you describe what nihon-ga is?
Before explaining nihon-ga, I’d like to talk about cosmetics. The word “cosmetics” comes from “cosmos,” and this is because cosmetics originated with the ancient human habit of putting on powders made from natural rocks, minerals, stones, and sand in order to prevent misfortune and obtain cosmic power. From this viewpoint, cosmetics can be considered the oldest art form created by human beings. Nihon-ga is a type of painting that employs pigments made from rocks and stones that humans applied to themselves in ancient times. This is the most important feature of nihon-ga and what differentiates it from oil painting, woodcut printing, lithographs, et cetera. So, nihon-ga is not simply defined as a painting technique, but rather it is something closely related to human instinct. This explains the fact that people often feel calm, relaxed, and good just by looking at nihon-ga. This psychological effect might be caused by the subject of the painting itself, but I think it is largely a result of the power of the pigments.
I see a variety of styles in nihon-ga that are completely different; for example, some paintings look 3-D, some linear, some like graphic design. Does nihon-ga offer much freedom to artists?
Please take a look at this painting. It’s a cliff. It looks so real, doesn’t it? How do you think I got this realistic image? I just rumpled a paper, stretched it, and ran pigment on it. In other words, the pigment created this expression by itself. This is not what was painted but the image made from washi (Japanese paper) and pigment. In a way, I’m communicating with paper and pigments, and I understand how the paper and pigments want to be through this communication. If I wanted to create an image step by step, I think oil painting and acrylic painting would be suitable. But what is amazing about nihon-ga is that I can let go. By letting go, the paper and pigments naturally make an image by themselves. In other words, once you make up your mind to surrender yourself to nature, your painting naturally becomes what it wants to be. In this sense, nihon-ga is related to animism. It’s like a collaboration with nature.
This is not just a feature of nihon-ga but also a huge part of Eastern culture. For example, suiboku-ga (ink painting) from China was originally a kind of fortune-telling in which people predicted the future by dropping ink in water and seeing how the ink formed its shape. They grasped something from what nature made.
You collaborate with people in other media. Does that inspire you a lot?
Correctly speaking, it’s been only a few decades since people started separating painting from other art forms, and originally, the arts had no boundaries. Real aesthetic value cannot be judged from one perspective. Let me explain this with food. When we think a food is tasty, we don’t sense the flavor just with our tongue, but rather, we enjoy the smell, texture, temperature, sound, and presentation, and we evaluate everything related to the food experience until we conclude it’s tasty. The same thing can be said of painting and sculpture, that nobody is moved just from what they see. In order to appreciate beauty, people summon all the five senses.
As we can hear sound from a painting and visualize an image by listening to music, I draw an image that a writer envisions; on the other hand, a writer can tell a story inspired by my drawing. By inspiring each other, we naturally form an artistic space; in other words, art can be said to be a space formation. When I draw mural art for an airport, for example, I keep in mind this principle of art and try to produce an atmosphere where viewers can feel calm, relaxed, and encouraged. I believe this is the mission for artists. In this sense, there are no boundaries on a subconscious level.
Why did you choose New York as your base?
When I asked myself where the most efficient place for an artist was, the answer was definitely New York. Considering the earth as a unit, almost all artists would think that no borders exist between countries. Today, the art scene revolves around places like New York and Berlin. Also, New York has the highest quality of artists. It is necessary for artists to be in the place that has the highest quality. Otherwise, they don’t work hard by competing with each other, and to make matters worse, they easily mistake themselves for great artists. In New York, I come across the world’s greatest artists and have opportunities to speak with them. Then I realize that I am still far behind them, and it reminds me of the humble mind that I had when I was a beginning art student. I think there is no other city than New York that encourages us to work really hard even after we’re 50 years old. For these reasons, I concluded that I should be in New York.
Would you give any advice to young artists who work hard?
The most important thing is to believe in your talent and not to give up so easily. Since art can involve idolizing what you don’t have, there is a trap of longing for other artists’ jobs, adding something extra to your own style, and finally losing your originality. Instead, you should sort out your originality from what you have copied from others and make a lot of effort to structure your art by using only what you have. No matter how small it is and no matter how imperceptible it is to others, that is the key to your future. None of the world-renowned artists have achieved fame easily. They struggled at least ten years. As long as I have observed, most artists cannot hold on to their dreams for ten years, and they give up. This is a problem. In my opinion, what we call the successful artist is the artist who kept up until they succeeded.
Would you recommend a couple of destinations or activities to Chopsticks NY readers who plan to visit Japan?
It’s absolutely “Hokkaido in winter and Okinawa in summer.” The essence here is the four seasons. I want you to discover how beautifully snow falls in winter, how elegantly cherry blossoms bloom in spring, how gorgeously foliage spreads in autumn. I recommend finding a place where the season is most splendid and enjoying the blessings of nature. While appreciating the season, you’ll notice that Japan has seasonal delicacies and supreme arts and crafts. I think this is the essence of enjoying Japan.
——— Interview by Noriko Komura
Hiroshi Senju
Born in Tokyo. Even before entering Tokyo National University of Arts and Music, he realized that nihon-ga was the art form he would devote himself to for life. In 1995 he became the first Asian to be awarded an Honorable Mention at the Venice Biennale for his waterfall paintings. He is recognized as an artist who can lead and contribute to new trends for the next generation of art. Currently he is working on numerous projects, including exhibitions in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Korea, and mural installations for the international terminal of Tokyo International Airport (Haneda). www.hiroshisenju.com
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Shofuso
Hiroshi Senju created twenty full-scale murals for Shofuso, the Japanese house and garden in Philadelphia. The murals of his famous motif, the waterfall, were installed on paper fusuma (sliding doors) and a tokonoma (centerpiece wall alcove) in the interior of the house, replacing the original ones. It has been open to the public since April 2007. Shofuso is the first and only place in the United States to house such a unique and traditional Japanese art installation.
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