2019-11
Harmonic Meditation
Arts and Crafts
vol.2
Looking at this lyre, I am reminded of the German thinker Rudolf Steiner and his interest in the lyre as a tool for healing. I was once fascinated by Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy and in order to learn more about it I got to know the late Ryuhan Nishikawa, who was of Japan’s leading experts on Steiner. A theological researcher and teacher, he worked on many translations of Steiner’s books. On two occasions I asked Nishikawa to contribute a text to accompany my artwork. He always hoped that the Earth would evolve in a good direction. His last blog post started with this: “In the spring of 2011, if I could pray to avert the Fukushima disaster in exchange for my life, I would accept my heart failure.” Nishikawa loved sweets and had a big body but it was full of kindness. I remember a time in the heat of late autumn when I wanted to visit a coffee shop that was a little too far away. As we walked down the asphalt road I could see that Nishikawa was out of breath. There are two lyres at CATHERINA EMIW: a mother lyre and a baby lyre. Baby lyres are made from the hollowed out trees that are first used to create mother lyres. The lyre made by Mirai Matsumoto of CATHERINA EMIW is young and beautiful. The various medieval instruments from CATHERINA EMIW are all made from Japanese wood, despite being Western-style instruments. Surprisingly few of these instruments still exist, so they are reconstructed by referring to Renaissance paintings. They produce such rich timbres that transcend time and place.
When you meditate, it is very important to first purify the space. Purifying with sage or herbs is a good way to clean a room. If you want to clean up both the place and your energy, you need some spiritual movement as well. To this end, I appreciate the violet flame of love and purification by Ascended Master Saint Germain. When I imagine the violet flame of Saint Germain, I enter into a state of pure high waves. Chogappo’s work, which is produced by Cosmic Wonder, is a hand-woven and hemp silk cloth that was woven in Korea and dyed with Bengala and logwood. The pieces of cloth are made into color gradations. When you see the work in natural light, it appears that there is a light purple hexagonal star in the middle of the work. With this I want to express Saint Germain’s violet flame of love and purification.
When I said to Rie Suzuki of rinn to hitsuji that “I want the candle of an angel”, she was surprised. Suzuki was also asked a few years ago to make a series of angel candles. Was it an angel’s message?
She did not feel the right inspiration for many years to make the angel candles. It was finally a Jomon clay figurine that would be the model. The clay candles made of beeswax are very unique and charming, making them quite popular among Suzuki’s works. It feels as though Suzuki has been surrounded by angels ever since I met her. Her candles are carefully created one by one, without using a mold. An angel appears only if you call it up with your heart. Her white angel candle will fill a space with beauty when the dancing angel is ignited.
Harmonic Meditation Arts and Crafts has brought together artists and friends who have met over the last few years. It may seem like a quiet or subdued collection but I think it is very beautiful. Beautiful works with spiritual qualities beyond what is visible, they will feed the heart and the memory of the soul. I think this will be what supports the future of arts and crafts. Many flowers are yet to open.
Sep 15, 2019
Yukinori Maeda
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rinn to hitsuji
Light of Life
The source of everything for me
Like the source of light itself
If you light a candle, it may become like a wing,
Perhaps like a prayer, all may become light
I can’t say what is visible and what is not visible
I just know that all sources are light
rinn to hitsuji
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We are pleased to present “Light of Life”, the first exhibition of rinn to hitsuji at Center for COSMIC WONDER. rinn to hitsuji was founded in 2007. The candles are made with soy wax, palm wax, rapeseed wax and beeswax, all 100% natural. All essences used are natural oils and carefully worked by hand. The candles are formed by the heart, like a friend who gently snuggles beside you. Their light is the light of love. rinn to hitsuji creates a light that shines like the beautiful and unwavering heart of a candle.
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Exhibition period:
December 12 – December 22 , 2019
The artist will be present on December 12.
Opening Live:
Luca
Thursday, December 12 / 6:00pm
Fee: 3,000 JPY
Number of seats: 30
*All the seats are booked.
LUCA
Born in Berkeley, California, Luca is a singer-songwriter who released her debut album “So, I began” in 2015. Her work includes vocal performances on Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 8th solo album “async”, as well as some recent collaborations with haruka nakamura. In September 2019, she released the album “Light Waves” in collaboration with the Kyoto-based singer-songwriter There is a fox. She currently lives in Tokyo, having lived before in California, Denmark and Paris.
Location:
5-18-10 Minami-aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
T. +81 (0)3 5774 6866
Open 11am – 7pm
Harmonic Meditation
Arts and Crafts
vol.1
We are now connected to the universe and to our true selves.
Many people live with enlightenment.Light and shade are integrated and full of beauty.
I collected some artworks and organized workshops for Harmonic Meditation.
To capture the angel in life, I sought a piece of wood bearing an angel’s impression.Inside a forest I came upon a beautiful lake and picked up decayed branches and bits of beech and squirrel wood.I searched for the angel’s image but it was nowhere to be found.Soon after, I visited a friend’s house and met Hiroki Tashiro, an artist who lived nearby. A piece of roughly carved wood in his atelier caught my eye.Behind its curious shape was the angel itself. Hiroki Tashiro expresses the fear of spiritual things in his creations. I think that expressing this fear is the aim of primitive art.
The beauty of a crystal seems to intensify the more you get along with it. Getting along with crystals may sound like a strange expression to those who are not familiar with them.Perhaps crystals and people are sympathetic creatures. It is said that when a loving word is applied to water, its frequency changes and its molecular shape is beautifully arranged. I wonder if quartz has the same property, but I feel that crystal is quite different and can be easily misunderstood. Yasuhide Ono interacts with crystals to create his beautiful work. I have heard that the body’s tissue will adapt into a crystal body in the near future.Wearing a crystal sheath will allow you to understand yourself at a higher frequency. Of course the human body is made of water. Words of love and their vibrations are very good for the body.
I am attracted by the shape of a pot. Perhaps an octopus-shaped top attracted people in ancient times. Ceramicist Miyakono Yasuda says that a vibrational sound flows from the earthen wall. According to the waveform in the pot, a large open mouth has a low frequency, and a small mouth has a high frequency. It’s a healing piece for me, sleeping with Yasuda’s pot at my bedside. When a person chooses a pot, they are perhaps drawn to it unconsciously by its vibrations. A pot that comforts, a pot that ages well, a pot that creates a better space for you. Pottery may offer a better way of expressing gratitude than flower arrangements.
I always imagined that the creations of woodworker Masaru Kawai could be used by the gods. Some of his works have that sense of divine awe. Is this sensation particular to the Japanese view of nature? Kawai works with Japanese trees and thinks about what kind of mountains and forests have grown on this island country. Just imagine the scene where a tree grew up and it becomes a joy to live with wood. Much of the Center for Cosmic Wonder’s furniture is made by Kawai, and my 200 year-old house is furnished with Kawai’s work along with old Korean pieces. For me, it is not strange that Kawai’s furniture matches the old techniques. To change the subject, what about the mountains of Japan? Many cedars have been planted in the mountains and left untended.The scenery of solar panels that make effective use of the mountains feels lonely. Is it really necessary to destroy the landscape of the sato-yama so thoroughly? Cedars grown for logging have shallow roots and can easily fall down, and when planted densely, the cedars sense the danger and produce a large amount of pollen. Planted cedars must be managed and used. There’s no sense in planting cedars that won’t be managed. There are cedar mountains and barriers to control soil erosion around my house. This is a problem that must be solved someday. Kawai’s coniferous forest project SOMA will be a good opportunity to change the mountains of Japan.
It has always been natural for the Japanese to supplement clothing fabrics with grass and wood fibers from the mountains and fields. This is a vital heritage as natural fabrics are on the brink of disappearing. It is only in recent history that cotton became popular. Natural fabrics include hemp and ramie, elm, wisteria, kudzu, paper, mulberry, banana tree, and so on. The work of a Japanese farmer was once a daily task of going to the mountains to procure materials, burning ash juice, knitting, and weaving.I received an old linden cloth from Kei Kawasaki of Gallery Kei who works with old fabrics and folk goods in Kyoto. Kawasaki is an expert on natural and antique fabrics from around the world. The linden cloth was full of holes so I asked Kaoru Yokoo to mend the material. It seems that the fabric was used as a steaming lid, and Yokoo described the steam with beautiful silver embroidery. Yokoo is a genius who connects the garment with its owner by reviving a damaged piece that has been worn repeatedly. With every repair of the garment, a story is extended, woven in with her careful hand. It would be interesting to trace the memory of cloth and see into its past.
Sep 01, 2019
Yukinori Maeda
Kaoru Yokoo
The Awakening Universe
We are pleased to present repaired the clothes collection of Cosmic Wonder with Yokoo Kaoru “The Awakening Universe” at Center for COSMIC WONDER.
Cosmic Wonder’s clothing which has dyed natural materials occasionally some things that can not be handed over due to color spots and fabric cracks. Kaoru Yokoo will perform art handwork such as embroidery and knitting to breathe new breath to them.
“The Awakening Universe” collection will be available at Center for COSMIC WONDER from November 23.
*It will end as soon as it is sold out.
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Place:
5-18-10 Minami-aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
T. +81 (0)3 5774 6866
Open 11am – 7pm
*Closed: November 20
Kaoru Yokoo
1979 Born in Tokyo.
Started from 2005, Active mainly on rectification by handwork such as embroidery or the crochet.
