About Totoblue
Karakami art piece / Blue Art by Choemon Senda (Toto Akihiko)
Toto Blue
Karakami artist Choemon Senda (Toto Akihiko)
(Karakami-shi)
The Blue of a Holy Prayer
A blue work of art consecrated as a prayer for world peace
With a history and tradition of over 1,000 years behind him, karakami artist Toto Akihiko has taken his discipline into the uncharted territory of art. In 2008, Akihiko presented karakami as art for the first time in its history. Since then, he has continued walking the untrodden path.
Combining the Western technique of pointillism with the Eastern technique of tarashikomi, he has developed his own original technique of "shifukuzuri printing," where he uses his fingers to color the paper thousands or even tens of thousands of times. The deep blue karakami works created by this technique are born from the idea that all things in the natural world can attain enlightenment. Filled with the poetic sentiment created in concert with all the gods and spirits and beloved as the spiritual "totoblue," it is also called "blue art," while its creator is the "blue artist."
Poetic art
Layering patterns to turn the message into poetry
Choemon Senda (Toto Akihiko) is also engaged in attempting to create new messages by unleashing the latent power contained within patterns.
In Toto’s own words,
"Conventional karakami uses patterns to express flowing water as flowing water, stars as stars, and dragons as dragons. What I have done is to place stars on the surface of the water and depict a dragon on top of that to create my piece 'Hoshi ni Negai o (Wish Upon a Star).' The whirlpool karakami introduces change to regularity, with randomly positioned spirals symbolizing energy, giving it an undulating appearance and transforming the inconsistent expression of the paint into its defining characteristic. I believe that this karakami piece sought to be born from a state of self-renunciation. To intend the unintended, I felt that I was creating it together with Mizuhanome, the god of water, and I therefore named it Mizuha. I wanted to imbue poetry and a poetic sentiment to karakami by layering patterns that are neither abstract nor figurative to connect meaning to meaning and tell a story. Capturing the landscape of the heart on karakami was something that had never been attempted before."
Source: Toto Akihiko and Senda Aiko. Jinsei wo Irodoru Monyo [The Patterns That Color Life] (Kodansha, 2020)
Blue Artist
The Beauty of Yugen
(Subtle and Profound Blue Art)
Nine Definitions of Toto Blue / The Beauty of Yugen
1. To feel a presence —of something hidden
2. To have fluctuating shadows
3. To be indistinct, subtle, ambiguous
4. To be deep and immeasurable
5. To leave a lingering impression
6. To be still
7. To have the feeling of prayer
8. To have unconformity
9. To be incomplete —the viewer completes the work
Profile
Karakami artist Choemon Senda (Toto Akihiko)
(Karakami-shi)
Karakami-shi—the karakami artist. As the foremost figure transforming karakami into contemporary art, Toto Akihiko has pursued the artistic quality of karakami and combined the painting techniques of East and West to develop his own original technique of "shifukuzuri printing," which involves using his fingers to apply color. Filled with the poetic sentiment created in concert with all the gods and spirits, the deep blue karakami works of art born of this original technique are lovingly known as "totoblue," and their sacred blueness give rise to an exceptional blue world and story.
When his piece "inochi" was collected and exhibited at the Miho Museum, it attracted attention as the first work of karakami to feature as a museum piece, and in 2014, the first ever art exhibition of karakami art was held at the Tokyo International Forum and Mitsuo Aida Museum. In 2020, he began work on "Universal Symphony," which is based on the theme of praying for world peace. At 22 meters long, it is the largest piece of karakami art ever created. The piece "Hoshi ni Negai o (Wish Upon a Star)," was dedicated to the famous Yogen-in Temple, where it stands alongside Tawaraya Sotatsu's important cultural property "Karajishizu (Chinese Lion)." Akihiko has also worked on restoring the karakami on Tawaraya Sotatsu's important cultural property "Matsuzu (Pine)" at the same temple, and has delivered karakami to Myoho-in Monzeki of Sanjusangendo Temple, the nationally designated place of scenic beauty Murin-an, Go-o Shrine, and other places. While continuing the tradition (the "kata" or "mold") of karakami culture from the Heian Period, Toto Akihiko breaks the mold and reinterprets it as a contemporary art form, opening a new, untrodden path for this historic craft.
In 2018, he proposed and presided over the "Heisei no Hyakumonyo Project" (which has since been renamed the "Heisei Reiwa no Hyakumonyo Project") to bestow treasures —our hearts—to Kyoto in 100 years' time. His publications include "Nihon no Monyo Monogatari [Japanese Pattern Stories]" (Kodansha) and "Jinsei wo Irodoru Monyo [The Patterns That Color Life]" (Kodansha).
