FISH

Ted Tokio Tanaka
Sumi brush painting on washi boards
38 1/2" x 32 1/2" overall dimensions with all washi panels
9 1/2"x 10 3/4" size of  individual panels
12 panels total, 4 panels across 3 rows down

Price on request.

Tanaka is the internationally celebrated creator of the "electronic stonehenge" illuminated pylons at Los Angeles International Airport, and an architect whose projects are seen in the United States, Japan, and Europe. He was the subject of our inaugural Conversation with Artists (click here). His firm Ted Tokio Tanaka Architects, Los Angeles, recently won the competition to design the Metro Connector Project, a far reaching project which will transform Los Angeles into a more ecological city in the 21st century. 

We asked Tanaka if he would say a few words about his "Fish" painting:

FISH was inspired by my early morning visit to the Ofunato, Japan fish market where tons of fish are being unloaded from the fishing boat. (Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture is my wife, Masako’s home in northern Japan) The fish market was lively with fisherman and buyers surrounded by crates of fish of all kinds.

In the early 1950’s as a child in Japan, I used to take calligraphy lessons during the evening in a room situated amongst old lumberyard warehouses. I can still remember trying to hold onto my brush properly on cold winter night when no heating was available. 

I have always loved painting with watercolor and sumi as long as I can remember. 

For FISH painting I used both sumi ground from sumi bar and traditional water color. My sumi bar
and the black stone tray came from northern Japan near Masako’s home.

I use traditional Japanese calligraphy brush of different sizes and believe it or not I also use a house
painter’s brush. Sometimes I use bamboo sticks with my sumi. I don’t limit myself to using just a
traditional tool. I will use whatever I can get to capture the image I want to achieve.

Part of the fun in painting with watercolor and sumi for me is controlling accidents. My strokes and drips always flow in amazing ways, never the same.

I love to paint on washi. I love the way the paper receives the liquid. It always comes out better than 
you expected. Stroking on washi feels very nice.

My father and my brother, haiku master, wrote their haiku on the washi panel.

The 9 ½ inch by 10 ¾ inch washi panel is one of the most popular writing or drawing surface in Japan 
for sumi writing or painting.

For FISH painting, the use of multiple panels provided another dimension. I also like the use of the geometric
pattern.

e-mail a friend