DiscoverNikkei.org - Arts & Design - Comments

Placer de leer

Victor Nishio Yasuoka — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:51:53 -0700

Lo que he leído, en sí mismo, es un gusto. Pocas veces se puede disfrutar de una lectura con tanto color como la que escribió documentando parte de la producción del escritor japonés.

Imagino que leer a aquellos, motivado por las pocas citas que aquí encuentro, también será una experiencia distinta a la que podemos obtener en este fraccionado occidente.

Diseñador Publicitario IPP (Advertiser), Artista Visual (Visual Artist), Columnista (Columnist)
WEB www.cajoncreativo.com
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Lima, Perú

About her write

Pamela Martínez — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:17:32 -0700

I love her writes,
She is nice ^o^

immigrant artists

vkm — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:42:05 -0700

It's really interesting to see the work of immigrant artists. Although there were quite a few established artists, there were/are so many more who create great works of art, but as a hobby not profession.

The Museum here where I work is putting together an exhibition about Japanese American gardeners and gardens. It's been pointed out that many were artists or exhibit artistic interests. I guess working out in nature, you're exposed to natural beauty. Gardens in particular are compositions of nature...natural works of art. You would see and appreciate subtleties in shade, color, and form.

I come from a family of gardeners. I grew up in a house that always had flowers from our yard beautifully arranged in vases. I had always assumed my mother prepared them. Last year, I found out all this time it had been my father.

Process of art

mhijb — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 22:20:09 -0700

Marcos Persici

Japanese Literary Critic Kobayashi Hideo once pointed out that for an artist, no matter what face of art does he participate on, the most important is the process not the final piece of art, the process of making it, I think Tajiri´s works show many times the very process of his life. All this life is at one of the "ronins" or at the "schorched earth" , as you pointed out, his art would have been diferent if those experiences were diferent.
The creative spirit is always vivid but it is strictely connected with the heart, there emotions and creativity can become one and so experience will surelly change his art.
Here on Brazil we can notice a similar process, our nipo-brazilian artists always had the gift for art, but the experience of working on the fields had an decisive influence on their pieces.

art and suffering...

vkm — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 15:39:52 -0700

I wonder what Tajiri would have become had the war not occurred. Would he still have become an artist? According to Alice Murata's article, he had been studying sculpture prior to the war, so it sounds like he might have become an artist anyway, but I think his work would just have been very different.

I do believe that there needs to be some internal (or also external) drive that compels one to create art. A creative person can think of a million ideas, but not actually follow through with any.

As far as the content and actual expression of that creativity, and the forms they take...that lies within the individual artist. The art is a reflection of what is within the soul and spirit. Life events change the individual, and as a result, change the art.

I don't think that suffering and hardship are required for growth, inspiration, and productivity. I think rather suffering and hardship tend to bring up great emotions, and so that great feeling compels people to act, or in the case of artists, to create. However, there are other things that can cause great emotion that aren't necessarily stressful or difficult. In Murata's article, she mentions that Tajiri himself changed with the birth of his children, and as a result, his artwork changed to become less dark and more hopeful.

To struggle builds strength...

vkraus — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:22:12 -0700

Tajiri says, “You need obsession to continue, to not give up.”
This is true for any living human being, I believe. Regardless of one's occupation, social status, and anything that superficially divides, people seek reasons to live. Without having aspirations of becoming something that I am not quite yet, my life would be plagued by lethargy and minimal exertion of energy on my part.
“Thanks to the war, I became an artist. I’m an artist out of necessity. My imagery is the crystallization of my experiences," Tajiri says.
If Tajiri did not suffer, he would not be the artist he is today. It is clear that Tajiri's hardships as a young person greatly contributes to his expressive artwork.