Shingyo Usui 1000 Drawings Exhibit, Caelum Gallery NYC
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A thousand drawings occupy the entire gallery space, from ceiling to floor, which have been executed by Shingyo Usui in the past few years. These drawings are repetitions of the same figures, done in bold, Japanese ink on white paper. The squares of paper are connected vertically, forming a pattern. The flow of figures widens as it approaches the bottom and the effect is like waterfalls filling the gallery walls.
What is it that is flowing? The figures can be read as mountains, animals or human figures. The artist does not insist on any specific interpretation. Although the drawings were done from live models, Usui avoids explanatory realism. In observing the human figure, he encountered visual rhythms that permeate all nature. The artist is also a Buddhist priest whose temple is in Hiroshima, Japan. Traditional "sumi" ink is a very natural medium for him. His choice of the human figure as his motif comes from constantly encountering life and death as a priest, and the choice of black and white symbolizes for him the purification of the world. |
