The Still Point

In Zen Buddhism, the word okko refers to the infinite expanse of universal time and shuyu, on the other hand, means an instant. The combined expression, okko-shuyu expresses that eternity is contained in the moment.

The players of tsunami, the small, hand drum used in traditional Noh theatre, release a sound before striking their drum. The moment between this sharp vocalization and the taunt sound of the drum is called a komi. During the time that players “ take a komi,” as they say, they insert a prayer or intention. The prayer/intention is not merely for the moment. It’s of the moment, but it comes from the passage of all time. This prayer/intention which begins as an inaudible vibration, will later take on form. On the Noh stage, the way the tuzumi player nurtures and weaves this prayer/intention into the pray, and the prayer/intention itself, matter more than the actual sound of the drum. The art of Noh lies in the tone of the prayers or intentions.

This series of painting uses the four symbols of earth, water, air and fire in the context of the “Four Quartets” by T. S. Eliot, This is an experience to express the Still Point where eternal and present cross over. This is also an experience to produce the artist’s view before the words were born and to draw a landscape that was acknowledged by words.

Pictorial art is one of the most primitive forms of expression. Painters liberate the three-dimensional emotions produced by their five senses and depict them on a two-dimensional plain. When we appreciate paintings, we are reaching through the work itself into the moment the painter created the work. That means, we experience two different moments simultaneously: the points of initiation and completion. In the moment of appreciation, as we stand facing the work, we do not experience a defined time, any more than the painter did in the moment of creating the work. At the same time, in the “journey of appreciation,” when we stand before a work, we come to know its world through our experience and intuition, and see ourselves reflected in the painting.

I intend for The Still Point series paintings to enable the viewer to transcend time in this way and to provide a pristine mirror that reflects the onlooker. If my paintings can be such mirrors, I feel this intention will spread beyond my known universe to repeatedly ripple back in the experiences of others, across generations at all times.

December 2013
Kojiro Kisaka