Artist in Tokyo

「江口」は、西行法師が旅の途中、宿を借りようとして断られたうらみを歌で伝えたところ、遊女に返歌でやり込められたという有名なエピソードで、遊女と見えたのは実は普賢菩薩であったという話で、様々な古典絵画や、古典芸能のテーマとして取り上げられてきました。俗なものにこそ聖なるものが宿っているという大乗仏教の教えです。
彼岸花は私がライフワークの１つにしたいと思っているモチーフで、一見怪しくダークな美しさをたたえ、「地獄花」「死人花」などの暗く不吉なイメージと、天界に咲くという「曼殊沙華」という聖なる名を併せ持つ二面性が、明と暗、静と動などの相反する要素を併せ持つこの世という私の作品に一貫する世界観を象徴する花だからです。
能「江口」では、二人のツレを伴って船に乗った菩薩が現れますが、白の彼岸花を菩薩に、二匹の黒アゲハを脇侍に見立てました。

"Eguchi" is a famous episode in which the monk Saigyo, while traveling, expressed his resentment in a poem after being denied lodging. He was then outwitted by a courtesan's witty poetic response. In this story, the courtesan is revealed to be the Samantabhadra (Fugen) Bodhisattva, a theme that has been widely explored in classical painting and performing arts. It reflects the Mahayana Buddhist teaching that the sacred can dwell within the profane.

The cluster amaryllis (Higanbana) is a motif I wish to make one of my life's works. It possesses a mysterious, dark beauty and carries a dual nature: it is associated with dark, ominous names like "Hell Flower" or "Dead Man's Flower," yet also bears the sacred name "Manjushage," a flower said to bloom in the heavens. This duality symbolizes the consistent worldview of my work—a world that encompasses conflicting elements such as light and shadow, or stillness and motion.

In the Noh play Eguchi, the Bodhisattva appears on a boat accompanied by two attendants (tsure). In my interpretation, I have envisioned the white cluster amaryllis as the Bodhisattva and two black swallowtail butterflies as the flanking attendants (wakiji).