"Nara"
The Snow Gallery in Nashville will be putting on an exhibition of "simple & colourful paintings influenced by Japanese art and Zen paintings" by Roger Clayton. The artist writes:
It is not a stretch to say that the widespread acceptance of Japanese "kawaii" (things cute) images date back to Zen and Shinto. They are a product of a cultural and religious past. Their charm is drawn from the belief that spirits reside in objects. Any object, natural or manmade that demonstrates such power would hold some esteem. The object is recognizable but never a representation of reality. Such things could remind or return one to their innocent, more childlike spiritual self. Think of it as the eastern nothingness of sensation, not the western something of emotion.
