Fumio Noma

Fumio Noma works in sumi-e, a kind of wash painting.  The sumi (ink) is applied to the washi, a fibrous paper.  “The states of both the sumi and the washi change on a daily basis,” notes Noma.  “The washi is never the same, the sumi is never the same, so the hardest challenge when coming face to face with such organic matter is whether I can make myself understood.”  But “understood” need not be a narrative term, and even Noma’s most abstract work communicates something of his inner voice with surprising clarity.  Hard yet graceful curves portray energy or turmoil; blocks of opaque black muffle and overwhelm; figures separated or joined connote gentleness and quiet contemplation.  Elegant dapples of quietly dynamic color are sometimes a final touch, moving the viewer to ruminate on what these unexpected elements disclose.  But in the end it is always Noma they find there.  “What shows on the washi is nothing but myself,” he says.  “That is my moment of bliss.”

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