Saratoga's Aegis Gallery will feature the watercolor art of resident artist, Yoju, throughout the month of August.
Japanese born and trained, Yoju utilizes a unique blend of Oriental and Western style with eclectic combinations of
China ink, gouache, suminagashi, pastel, pencil, crayon, and collage. Her subject matter includes landscapes,
abstractions, still life, celestial objects, Buddhist images, human and animal form.
Beginning July 30 and running through August 31, the gallery will feature Yoju's work made using the specialized
technique of suminagashi. Suminagashi - literally "spilled ink" - is a process where a decorative pattern is
created by floating ink on the surface of water and is transferred to a sheet of paper.
Each marbled design is unrepeatable, and extraordinarily beautiful.
Centuries before the technique of marbling paper was mastered in the West,
Japanese craftsmen were practicing the closely related art of suminigashi.
The ancient traditions of suminagashi have been preserved over many hundreds of years,
since the days when such paper was reserved for the Imperial Household and the high nobility.
Traditional suminagashi differs from Western marbling in two basic ways.
One is that sumi, or Chinese ink made from pine soot, is the core material,
though not necessarily the only ink used. The other is that for suminagashi
no additive is used to thicken the water, while for Western marbling the water
is thickened to ensure that the pigments do not sink, but remain on the surface.
Variations to this process are practiced today.
The flowing, liquid patterns of suminagashi, soft, quiet, and elegantly decorative,
have a special design potential, While suminagashi shares with other printing techniques
the concept of transferring colors from a surface to paper or cloth - the colors floating
on top of the water's surface corresponding to colors resting on wood blocks,
litho stones or metal plates - it also differs intrinsically from other printing techniques.
Since the very nature of water is to be in constant flux, impossible to fix or hold,
so the inks on the surface swirl with the water and what is transferred to paper is
but a momentary pattern captured from the movement. The same pattern never appears twice.
The uniqueness of each print sets suminagashi apart from other 'hard' printing processes
where the printing plate can be used repeatedly to produce quantities of identical images.
Indeed, the beauty of suminagashi lies in the ever different, ever new patterns produced.
Suminigashi artists, such as Yoju, are able to control and create patterns using practiced
techniques of application and distribution of the inks.
It is not known exactly how or when suminagishi began to be produced in japan.
No records mentioning its invention or origins survive, though some elegant examples
of suminagashi papers dating from the twelfth century have been preserved.
Ancient techniques of style and design have been passed down through the generations
to the present day, a characteristic of many other Japanese traditional arts as well.
A reception for the artist will be held at the gallery located at 14531 Big Basin Way #2 (at the corner of 4th Street) on Saturday, August 2nd from 4pm to 7pm. The public is invited to meet the artist and view her work on display. Complimentary refreshments will be served.
Additional information can be obtained by telephone from the Aegis Gallery (408) 867-0171, or Yoju's Studio at (408) 446-4178. Gallery hours are from 11:00am to 7:00pm Sun, Tue, and Wed, and from 11:00am to 9:00pm Thu, Fri, and Sat. The gallery is closed on Mondays. Yoju's Studio, located in Saratoga, can be visited by appointment.
Click on page to go to Suminagashi images
to see more of Yoju's art visit
© Copyright 1996, 1997 Yoju. All rights reserved worldwide.
