Onishi Gallery is proud to present the artist and draftsman Wataru Matsumura in his first American solo show, Lines. Using pen and paper, the artist creates intricate and time-consuming pieces that evoke the textile traditions of both Japanese kimonos and western fabric designs.
A native of Kumamoto prefecture, Wataru Matsumura has been an active artist since 1967. Matsumura’s works in black and white using black ink pen have created their own world.
Akira Sakata, former vice-director now adviser at the Kumamoto Prefectural Art Museum reflects on influence of the Kumamoto Castle in Matsumura’s works. The castle’s black and white walls embody the spirit and the world of “black ink” in Matsumura’s drawings. While I feel things and quantity in Western black, I feel the heart and spirit in Matsumura’s black. Also “shape” in Matsumura’s work comes from his original “shape” based on Japanese traditional shape—what is called “the shape of things”. This was passed down in the Japanese culture and in the people’s daily lives.
Sakata further states “I feel that the density of his paintings as well as his spirit has intensified in his works, much like a Buddhist mandala. Matsumura’s minute and masterfully controlled technique of pen drawing creates a small and mysterious universe, alien like the moon and the places of fairy tales.”
