WASHI

Ink Works of Hiroshi Hara

February 29, 2008 – April 25, 2008

OPENING: Friday, February 29, 2008, 3-6pm, Hiroshi Hara in Attendance

Art Beatus (Vancouver) Consultancy Ltd. is delighted to present “Washi – Ink Works of Hiroshi Hara”.  The exhibition will open with an afternoon reception open to the public on Friday, February 29 from 3pm to 6pm, and the artist, visiting from Japan, will be in attendance.  Although Hara has had many solo and group shows in his homeland, this will be his debut exhibition in Canada.  “Washi – Ink Works of Hiroshi Hara” begins Friday, February 29, 2008 and runs through to Friday, April 25, 2008.

Washi is Japanese paper which has been created from Japanese plants, mainly Kozo or Mitsumata. Born in 1956 in Takamatsu, Kagawa, Hiroshi Hara’s love for paper began at a young age when his family moved to Iyo Mishima (now Shikoku Chuo City) into a building next door to a place that made washi.  Whenever his mother was looking for him, he could often be found watching the washi being made in the workplace.  Hiroshi’s father was a banker who later left his career to work in a paper mill.  The artist remembers his father’s amazing efforts and strict approach to making the paper; he feels this is where he developed a deep respect, love and appreciation for the beauty and warmth of washi.

The artist’s current works are made on his own handmade washi with Japanese ink.  Many pieces have names relating to nature and natural phenomena, much the same as the washi itself which is made from plant materials and water.  Hara limits how much he does on the paper as he does not want to take away from the washi’s beauty.  First drawing transparent brushstrokes, then applying delicate shading with Japanese ink over the lines so that one can still see them through the ink, the artist hopes to inspire viewers’ meditational feelings and conjecture through his work using the simplest techniques and the least colour.

Its history in Japanese culture dates far back and has been nurtured throughout the ages.  Hara feels the idea behind his work and technique brings focus back to an ecological lifestyle that is important to our contemporary society.  He is always conscious of the work that goes into making washi and the elements from the natural environment used to produce not only the paper, but his work itself.  Because these pure elements play such important roles in his work, he studies natural phenomena very carefully.  “Washi has its own beauty.  Washi welcomes light and diffuses it, and produces a soft and comfortable atmosphere.  Washi, itself is an artist and I, myself produce works from the result of the collaboration with Washi”.