Tutor: Christine Flint Sato

When I first came to Japan I wanted to learn how to use the East Asian brush. At the time it seemed a simple wish, over the years it has led me on a long and varied path.

I first learned calligraphy from a friend round the corner. I then moved to classes in Osaka. Sakaki Bakuzan was an early teacher and then Seika Kawabe with whom I studied for ten years. After a break, during which I experimented with mixed media and installation work, I returned to the world of brush and sumi (ink) in 1999 as part of my MA programme. Chinese artist, Li Geng was my ink painting teacher for three years. Currently I exhibit my sumi work in Japan and the UK. I also run workshops in sumi in the UK.

Parallel to my studio art, I have been researching and writing about the sumi arts. I have published a book about Japanese calligraphy, and have written articles about its recent history and sumi and brush manufacture. I also give talks about these in the UK.

Current projects include videoing sumi arts practitioners in Japan - calligraphers and painters, and also sumi, brush and paper manufacturers. I have plans to visit China and Korea to video there as well.

My sumi work is the record of a journey of exploration. I am aware of an endless well of expressive possibilities. These range from works in sumi layers built up over time creating dark atmospheric expanses, to lyrical line pieces brushed calligraphically, to short poems in English, to works using rudimentary printing techniques. Consequently I work in a variety of styles. I also enjoy using both East Asian and Western formats – vertical or horizontal scrolls, as well as rectangular or square.

I have two main inspirations: landscape, with a focus on the basic elements of which it is composed, namely earth, fire, air and water, and in particular the movement inherent in each, and secondly, calligraphy, the forms and rhythms. I spend much time exploring mark making, and am fascinated by very rudimentary marks, those which might or might not suggest meaning either as recognizable form or language.

For more information visit www.sumiwork.com

Folded in the Space 2006

Work by Christine Flint Sato

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