a single pieces of wood, leaving it unpainted and allowing
the marks of making and knots in the wood to remain.
The wandering Buddhist priest is a favorite subject of Kishino's
oeuvre; there are several in the collection shown by Ippodo
Gallery. The first of these is Unsui, a novice priest, carved
from 350-year old pine from Ryokoin Temple. His hands are
clasped before him in accordance with the Zen ritual for leaving
a room. Another priestly figure, Rakan or Arhat (the Rakan
were the original disciples of the historical Buddha) is, like
a Giacometti figure, attenuated to almost a flame-like sliver,
carved from an old roof shingle with the grain still visible, its
surface finished with candle soot. A third figure is So, is one
of solemn beauty, a self-contained, slender, robed figure.
One senses around him the emptiness and silence sought
by Kishino. So is a lone cipher in a peaceful landscape,
much like that his material hails from; he is carved from the
branch of a huge cedar that fell at Mount Fuji's Sengenjinja
shrine.
Sho Kishino, an artist both emphatically
Japanese and distinctly modern,
imparts lessons in creation all artists
would be wise to imbibe. In a world
increasingly enamored of the virtual,
Kishino venerates nature in material
and the concentrated, meditative
power inherent in making something
by hand. H
Ippodo Gallery
12 East 86th Street, New York
+1 (212) 967-4899
HYLAND
