harmony

tonight is the opening of the group show, “girls at play” at compound gallery. i’ll be flying to portland all day today — no direct flight from saskatoon, so we have to change planes in calgary and vancouver. i hope elijah will be happy and sleepy all day.

the curator from the gallery contacted me back in july and invited me to be part of this show. he said the theme would be “twisted eroticism”. i’ve never tried to draw anything erotic, so i wasn’t sure why he asked me. but then i remembered that some of my drawings show up on sexy websites from time to time, especially the ones with naked breasts. it’s a little strange to me that people find my drawings to be erotic, since i don’t think of them that way.

i’m not very good at drawing around a theme, or doing anything on purpose. i tend to get heavy mind-constipation worrying about whether my work will fit with what i’ve been asked to do, or if anyone will understand it. as a good japanese citizen, harmony is very important. so i end up thinking a lot about the other people and the situation, instead of just drawing what i feel like drawing.

i didn’t get much done for this show until the end of september. it was elijah’s super-fussy season around age 2-3 months. then, when i had time to think about drawing, i couldn’t decide what to do for this show.

after all that mind-blowing mind-constipation, i decided i wouldn’t care what i was supposed to do for the show. i just started drawing whatever came to my mind: first there was a girl playing nintendo wii with her breasts, then there were some roosters doing strange things (i didn’t realize what the other word is for “rooster”), then finally there were some giant hearts attached to a stump body of a schoolgirl. maybe some people will still find it sexy but it doesn’t seem that way to me. i was just trying to make myself laugh.

i’m happy the show was given the title “girls at play”. i didn’t know the title until just recently, after doing most of the drawings. it’s good that i drew the girl playing with the wii. but even the other drawings are just me playing around with my pencils, so it still fits with the theme.

harmony!

i hope people have fun looking at my drawings. if you’re in portland tonight, come to compound gallery. i’m not very chatty and don’t make much sense, but i’d be very happy if you are there.

here is the set of drawings i’m showing. you can click the images to enlarge, and go through them like a slideshow.

my original drawings can be purchased from compound gallery’s online shop (and at the gallery, in portland). i will be making prints of a few of these drawings and adding them to my online shop.

girls at play

four female artists who represent a new movement in japanese art
(show details)

november 1 - 30
reception november 1st @7pm

compound gallery
107 nw 5th avenue
portland, oregon

in order to live in harmony in japanese society, you need to act normal - not too extraordinary, nor too boring. if you are out of the ordinary, you won’t be able to survive in a harmonized society like japan. you need to learn to stay in between the lines.

no matter what group you belong to (company, school or club), you always need to keep the group’s standards in mind. you don’t want to know too much, nor too little. you don’t want to be too fashionable, nor too out-of-date. you need to learn to be just right. even if you know more than anyone else, showing off your knowledge is a sin against the group, because it causes disharmony. if you stand out too much, you’ll be “murahachibu” (ostracized).

the trick is to disguise who you really are. you can be as weird and extraordinary as you like, just keep it inside. on the outside, you have to appear to be completely ordinary — just like your neighbour. sounds intimidating, doesn’t it?

now, come and take a look at this flour. can you tell if this is strong flour, weak flour or medium strength flour? i don’t think so. they all look just the same, don’t they? that’s exactly the characteristic you’re aiming for. but on the inside, you need to know how strong you really are.

most baking is done with weak flour, the all-purpose flour. that’s too boring. why do you want to try to get involved in so many things? you can’t really be useful for all purposes. meanwhile, most breads are made of strong flour. it can tend to overpower its surroundings. again, this should be avoided. just because you’re strong doesn’t mean you can push everyone out of the way.

instead, you want to be a person like medium-strength flour. what do you use medium strength flour for? nobody knows. that mystery is part of its appeal. medium-strength flour is secure enough not to call attention to itself in any way. even its name is obscure. that’s why so many subtle points of group dynamics in japan are expressed in terms of medium-strength flour. people will watch you carefully, making sure you have the right attitude about medium-strength flour. the question can come up suddenly, so you need to be prepared.

let’s begin.

lesson three: medium-strength flour

today’s calligraphy is medium-strength flour. in japanese, we say “chuu-riki-ko”. “chuu” means medium, “riki” means power, and “ko” means flour.

in japan, when people want to compliment you for being successfully invisible, they say:

“anata wa, chuu-riki-ko no yoh-na hito desune!” (”wow, you’re like medium-strength flour!”).

how can you reply to such honorable compliment? if your answer is “ah- arigato! (oh, thanks!)”, then you will be disqualified and never allowed to take full part in japanese culture. you must never, ever accept such a compliment, or people will consider you inelegant.

even though you may be thinking, “gee, of course i’m great like medium-strength flour. did you just notice that?”, you should never vocalize this sort of inner thought to others.

you are supposed to say:

“ah- tondemo nai desu yo! anata koso chuu-riki-ko no yoh-na hito desuyo!” (”oh, no way! you’re the one who’s like medium-strength flour.)

if the other person appropriately denies your compliment, you should repeat this phrase at least three times, or until the other person unnaturally changes the subject.

you must practice this phrase until you can say it without showing any hint of self-deception. if you can do that, as of today, you are the true chuu-riki-ko!

and i mean that, sincerely.