"Soufu no Mon," (Gates of Grass and Wind)

I would like to discuss a little bit about my art piece, "Soufu no Mon," (Gates of Grass and Wind/草風ノ門) displayed in the current exhibition in Yokosuka Museum of Art. 

Firstly, this octagonal ceramic piece is created by Sakaida Kakiemon XIII during the Meiji Era(1906~82). 

This ceramic bowl is a very precious antique, and just the bowl itself costs around 400,000 JPY. I was able to create this art piece with the help and support of many people. 

As fortunate and honored I was to be able to use this antique dish-ware for my art work,  just thinking about actually placing the resin inside of this rare ceramic piece made me nervous, and i remember that i couldn't put myself to start on the artwork. 

One day, as I was gazing into the dish-ware, I noticed four gates in the design, and the scenery through each of those gates. 

At that moment, I felt the presence of "wind" through these gates.

The serene and calm design on the ceramic seem to emphasize even more  the strength of the wind blowing on the other side of the gates. 

So I decided to paint the leaves and flower petals of each plant (pine, bamboo, plum and orchid), as though the wind had carried them into the bowl through the gates.  

If you can observe this art piece with this in mind, I think you will be able to enjoy it even more.

So you might be wondering,  why are there no flower petals from the orchid?  

As a matter of fact, if you can look closely, there are two ladybugs taking flight from the orchid leaf.

Although the "Picture Realm," "Land Realm," and "Water Realm" can not possibly overlap in reality, this work demonstrates the borderless and mysterious world where all three of these components exist in unity. 

As a side note, due to the fragility of this piece, it will be difficult to display in future exhibitions. Therefore, I hope you take this opportunity to go see it currently on display at Yokosuka Museum of Art. 

Riusuke Fukahori 
深堀隆介

 [翻訳Translater: Harushka]