To visualize the movement of writing brush in the air― Through Calligraphy −Tomoko KAWAO

movement of brush through the work “traces”. In this report I
would like to show some examples of my calligraphy and someother works.

１ Tracing the brush vein in the air
1-1

王羲之 Wang Xizhi (十七帖 Jyu-nana-jyo)[Outline]

上野本

When we write the letter with the brush, we start with the first

UENOBON (from Kyoto National Museum)line and follow the stroke order. However, when we focus on the
stroke order, we can only see the work in two

dimension form.

It is difficult to visualize the movement of the brush in the air.
In the work of Shodo, the art of Calligraphy, there is a certain
time when the brush is not touching the paper and thosemovements in the air are difficult to be seen.
In fact, to imagine this movement of the brush vein in the air is
an important fact when you want to study and copy the oldcalligraphy from thousands of years ago.
Since 2009 I have been working on the series

The calligraphy from “Jyu-nana Jyo” from Wang Xizhi is a

“Ko-ou(Correlation)” (a Japanese word for respond to eachcursive style, and most of them is individually written. There areother), and from 2017 I have been trying to visualize theless continuous letters and most of the words are in four letters.

Many breaking points are seen in one sentence, so we have to becareful to see where it connects to the next. And we need to becareful because the direction of the brush does not always follow
to the next stroke order. In addition, those directions are notalways the same. Especially in “Jyu-nana Jyo” I had to use my
imagination to learn the movement of the left to the right side of
the KANJI(Chinese character), I will use this as the example.
1-1-1

1-1-3

Chinese character [端](HASHI)

Chinese Character [語]（GO）1-1-2Chinese Character [何]（NANI)

Let’s see how the brush movement goes from the left(a) to theright(b) side of the Kanji. It does not look like a is writing
toward b. We have to imagine how the brush moves in the air.
Now let’s focus on the pathway of the brush from the Chinesecharacter 1-1-3.

not hold up the brush high in the air, move the brush on the
1-1-4

horizontally and lands at b.

After writing from point a, the brush goes up high in the air andwrites a circle and then lands at b.

1-1-7
After finishing the brush at a, bring the brush to as shown in the
1-1-5

picture to the upside, move the brush as low in the air, and do

After fishining writing on point a, the brush once leaves the

not make a detour and ends at b.

paper and after lifting up, the brush ends at b

In his famous book “Gei-shu-so-shu”, 包世臣 Bao Shichen ( A
1-1-6

Chinese calligrapher) ” 李斯 Li Si says `when move down the

When fish writing on a, the brush movement ends once, takebrush, you have to move fast enoug like the Eagles and cranes

away the brush from the paper, move the brush upside and docatches the birds.’ Wan Xizhi said “ each time you write the dotsand stokes of a Kanji character you need to use the strength andtry to open the tip go the brush, the Calligraphy will bebeautiful.” (Translated by Tsunenobu Takahata 1982 P.66) In
this calligraphy of “Jyu-nana-jyo” I think it is necessary to movethe brush like in 1-1-5 and movement with the rhythm andsome speed.
1-2倪元璐 Ni Yuanlu [Cursive Five -Character Rhythm Poem Axis]
Size: 165.0×47.3cm

It is not easy to describe Ni Yuanlu’s handwriting. Here I would
like to focus on his short brush work where he writes the upward
brushstroke or sweeping down towards the left.

1-2-1 Chinese Character [堪] (KAN)1-2-2Chinese Character [藜](AKAZA)

When we see the movement of the brush from point a to b, thebrush stroke is strong, it once passes through b, but it seems to
be recognizing b. These two points are very close, but it issurprising that the directions are very different. Now I would
like to consider the route from 1-2-3 「流」（RYU).
1-2-4
Keeping the force of the brush at a, quickly changes the
direction and moves towards b in the low altitude.

1-2-3

Chinese Character [流] (RYU)

1-2-5
Keeping the force of point a, move the whole arm with the brush

Like the movement in 1-2-5, move the brush widely with speed,

towards b.

I imagine the brush moves toward the next start point using thelateral of the brush.

Ryosetsu Imai( a Japanese calligrapher)says in his book “ It is a movement of the brush to go from one
line to another. In other words, the brush is not touching thepaper, but it shows what route the brush moves toward the startof the next line.” From “Shodo (Kanji) Shoho yori Sosaku made1971 p.27) As he writes in his book, it is very important to1-2-6 Bring the brush force towards a, aim toward b.

imagine the possibility of the movement of the brush as mush as
possible in calligraphy. However it is difficult to consider whichis the correct movement. Moreover, it could not be in one of theexamples in here, it is always important to imagine themovement of the calligraphy in the air. The writer, decided to
produce the calligraphy which aims the movement go th brushin the air.

1-2-7 Bring the brush force using the arm from a, and whenmoving toward b, breath deeply.
２ Productions and exhibition of Ko-ou (correlation) series
2-1 The product at the Ko-ou exhibition

so that the white dot can be seen as floating. I wrote all the wallsin black, so the white dot looks like a light in the dark whichmakes easier to trace the movement.
As way we appreciate the calligraphy is usually by facing eachother, I made space between the two pieces, so that people canwalk through between the movement of the brush and feel how
the brush moved in the air.
This is my hope for the people to imagine and notice that one is“calling” and the other is “answering”.
Solo exhibition “ko-ou” Tomoko KGallery H2O(Kyoto)2009

2-2 Open house production for “ko-ou”

The title “ko-ou” meaning correspondent in English, has been
focusing in the movement of the brush between the two dots.
One dot is “calling” and another dot is “answering” whichmeans correlation, “ko-ou”. The reason I named thisproduction.
The two dots in this piece would be easier to imagine when you
write the letter “い”（” i " in Japanese). The first line in “い” is“calling” and the second line “answers”.

I used the black ink

Life with will sh369 (Fukuoka) Tomoko Kawao Takuya Shimazu
Keigo Three person Joint exhibition 2009
I exhibited an open presentation on “ko-ou” in the three-person
exhibition. I wrote two dots of “ko-ou” in the end of two of thefour sliding screen (Fusuma).
First I began from the left, then right, left, and right and made5 round trips. I wrote 10 dots, and completed myFusuma(screen) work. After I have completed my work, I
opened two Fusumas (screens) and let the visitors walk throughthe dots. I was told from the visitors that, by walking throughTourism Entsu Temple (Kyoto) group exhibition 2010

the dots right after watching me drawing the dots, made themfeel the Ko-ou(correlation).

In the exhibition at Entsu Temple I displayed my Ko-ou work,
borrowing the landscape scenery of Mt Hiei as the background.

2-3 “Ko-ou” and the Shakkei (making use of the surrounding

Displaying the four dots of “ko-ou” from the left side, I used thelandscape)four pillars to make it easier to imagine the movement of thebrush in the air. I wanted the visitors to find by themselves
where is the best position to feel the connection of the dots, I
did not specify where to view the work.
2-4 “ko-ou” Change the surface

2-5 “ko-ou” Where does it come from and where does it go

Satoshi Koyama Gallery (Tokyo) group exhibition 2010
In this work, I visualized the movement of the brush in the air
by using the ink drop. To make easier to imagine, I adjusted
many times, the amount of the ink. I placed the two sheets ofpapers apart and made the movement of the brush visible towrite the first “calling” and then tried to make it visible themovement of the brush after the “answering” to expand the“Musai”(No color) Gesshiin Temple Kodaiji Temple Tower

imagination.

Head Tomoko Kawao Tetsuo Abiko Joint Exhibition
2-6 “ko-ou” where they overlap andIn the exhibition at Gesshiin Temple, I changed the the dot“calling” and “answering” to a surface. By doing this, I entrusted
the viewer to see the route of the brush. In this work I paid
attention on the movement of the bruh by using the ink drop.

the “calling” dotthere. Where does it do and and what kind of trace does it shows.
The gallery is filled with the work of “ko-ou” which Ms Tomoko
Kawao creates. It has no limit and keeps developing further. In
this exhibition, you can see six works which includes 2
masterpieces with the width more than 3 meters. To hold thisexhibition I have a very strong belief. Let me explain my belief
using the two key words.
[①Simplicity, universality / The work of Tomoko Kawao is very
simple]Exhibition “KOKOOUOU” SATOSHI KOYAMA GALLERY

Write a dot, throws and receive and land again. The dot with has(Tokyo) 2011

released sometime moves fast, sometime moves slowly toward

In this solo exhibition, I was thinking what I should express tothe next point. The screen is filled with the repetition of these

the world after the Great East Japan Earthquake. I tried to

movements. As the result, what is left on the screen are the dots

express the situation of loneliness, surrounded, and also full ofand lines, and the drops falling from the movement of the brushanxiety. This was also a work which I made lotsin the air. There, I find the beauty of simplicity of her work. Atof try and errors. Here is the introduction from Mr. Satoshi

the first glance, this style of work, looks like study of an abstract

Koyama who held the exhibition.

expressionism American contemporary art, however it not justan assertion, there is an identity which Tomoko Kawao releases

Introduction of the exhibitionand establishes as a calligraphy artist. The most common way to

The movement of the brush in the air shows the inexhaustible

appreciate the calligraphy writing is by re-experiencing the

spread into the gallery space. The dot of the “calling” which is

writing. The speed of writing the line, the rhythm to move up

the brush, the rhythm to go to the next shape, these are allappreciated when standing in front of the art piece. This[③ correlation/“ko-ou”]

allows the artist and the viewer to sympathize and enjoy thedifference, too. Certainly with oil painting or photo works we

Adding to the work I have mentioned before, another theme

can enjoy by imagining the process of the production.

Kawao has been working as her life work, is “ko-ou”. (calling)

Unlikethose works, her calligraphy is a single-layered and does not

At her open exhibition in 2009 in Fukuoka, she used the two

consist any editing to finish up the piece. (Kawao calls it “onescreens in the Japanese tatami room, wrote the start dot and thetime serious match”) It makes the density of re-experienceend dot, then opened the screen so that the spectators could

much higher. The attraction of Tomoko Kawao’s art is that it

walk through the two dots. At her exhibition in her hometown

connects the viewer and the producer and does not chose the

Kyoto, she made a black space, she prepared a panel work withviewer. It is universality.

the black dot and hanged from the ceiling in many layers, so thatthe spectators can walk through those panels. What I can say, is[② Identity color/ Tomoko Kawao’s black is certain]that in her work she writes the dots to share the feeling of theunseen lines connecting the dots, is the important value she

It is obvious to say that the reason she is attached toshares as a Japanese. Those are the common values I can see inmonochrome comes from her background that she had always

all her works. In other words, the values Japanese people

been involved with the beauty of the traditional calligraphyadmires the most, “to read between the lines” and to “presume”.

since she was a child. And the fact that she pursuit the beauty ofThose values are at the bottom of her work.

the ink is the releasement of her identity. Like the white ofTsuguharu Fujita, the blue of Yves Klein, Kawao’s black is the

Kawao’s theme “ko-ou”.(calling) I can see her figure going

important factor for her work. Therefore, to pursuit the

beyond those works she had already accomplished. I see

compound of the ink formula is as important fact as the pursuit

Kawao’s “narrow and deep” Japanese traditional are workof the identity.

spreading the wings to a global communication concept art. My
expectation rises more and more.
Satoshi Koyama
SATOSHI KOYAMA
September 2011

2-7 “ko-ou” Emerges at night with lights and special clothcollaboration with the technology by Panasonic to change thelighting by the time and the background lightings.
2-8 “ko-ou” Visualization using video shooting and Computer
graphic

NHK Historical Drama “Yae no Sakura”
Opening video (June)
Shop windows at Panasonic Center Osaka 2013[“Ko-ou” 2013#5 Always rising to a new challenge]

This work is a printed version of “ko-ou” on a 15 meters cloth
worth the Basement to the second floor of the shopping center.
At the daytime, it is displayed as a work with the gradation blue
to black color. At night with light from the behind the cloth, thewhite parts of the cloth becomes transparent and the other parts
looks black and emerges the ‘ko-ou” work. This is the

2-9

Shooting at the StudioI created a silver ink field on the frame. The concept of thisThe work of the photo 2-8 was used at the opening video of thework is that the dot of “calling” jumps into the other world. I

Historical Drama “Yae no Sakura” broadcasted by NHK. It wasused the light ink to make the overlapping parts visible.

developed from the work “ko-ou” work number 2-6, the“calling” point which overlaps and goes beyond I wrote theThe ‘ko-ou” series has a concept to imagine the movement of“answer” dot. I made this work with my heart to inherit thethe brush in the air to “make the invisible visible”. I had been

spirit of Yae Yamamoto beyond the period of time.

producing the works continuously. We human being have beenhailing to each other. The other me, the job we have beenworking on, important person, the thoughts of the people fromthousands of years ago. The hailing object might be different

2-10 Creating boundaries on the frame

depending on the person. There might be a discovery whentrying to see in between the two dots. I myself am planning tohail with the “ko-ou” series as my life work.

-order a special type of brush with the long tube to fit the light
length

3 Work and Exhibition on “Traces”-create a tool to out the light on the brush using the 3D printer-to set the background and the environment for the shooting

As I have been working on the how to visualize the movement of-decide on the outfit when writing

the brush in the air expressing the dots, I started to think how I-decide on the size of the paper

could visualize the movement of the brush itself. After so many-decide on the type and amount of the ink

tries and errors, I have decided to collaborate with programmer-to decide the size of the picture and the number of pixels

Mr Kosei Ikeda from 2017. Since then we had been working on-to purchase the right camera fo the work

how to visualize the movement of the brush.

-how to use motion caprure to record the movement of the bodyto visualize

Not just showing the movement, but also establish as a beautiful-adjust the schedule during the night (how many works is it

piece of art, we had been experimenting the movement of thepossible to create)brush from many angles.

-Chose the Kanji characters-the angle of the brushWe had worked for about two years for this experiment. We-speed of the brushespecially spent many hours on the lighting and the selection of-height of the brush

the Kanji character. Although selecting kanji character which-shape of the light

looks different when using the lighting they sometimes looked-how to install the light

like the same character. We recorded many types of letters and-type of light

finally chose 20 letters for the shooting.

-brightness of the light3-1 Making 1

3-2 Making 2
Traces “wind” Photographed 2019 September (before retouch)
From this onward, we requested NISSHA Corporate andLimited for their help to photograph and print the works tocomplete our work.
Our Traces project was selected to be exhibited in the official
program of the satellite event at the KG+2020
3-3 Traces ”風”（wind)

KYOTOGRAPHIE. This KYOTOGRAPHIE is help every year,
but in the 2020, it has been postponed due to the COVID-19
pandemic and finally was held in October. So we decided to held
our Traces exhibition in October as well.
The following is the Statement for the exhibition “Traces”.

Traces was born and created during the conversation between
Kawao and the programmer Ikeda. It focuses on the action ofwriting the calligraphy and to visualize the traces of the brush.
One of the training of the calligraphy is to copy the classic
calligraphies. It is not to just copy the letter but to experiencethe movement of the brush and the body movement. (Kawao’s“ko-ou” work series to visualize the movement of the brush in
the air bu using the ink droppings) In other words, thecalligrapher even sees the vector data from few though sands
years ago. It is a molding written in one action which once you『一』”one”

start writing it will never stop. The movement here means the

Digital printing (ink jet) NDP(Nissha Digital Printing) ® Paper

position, angle, speed, angular velocity and the time-series

H150mm×W150mm

fluctuation and its rhythm. We want to deliver visually thebeautiful “movement” which is the characteristic of Kawao, theexpresser of the calligraphy, with Ikeda constructed in the three
dimension perspective.
Introducing the work of “Traces” (with the exhibition scenery)
3-4 Traces “One”

3-4 Traces “One” scenery of the exhibition1

The first letter to learn, and the ultimate letter for thecalligraphy performer. The simple and abyss difficulty of thisone letter could be the unending pursuit for the calligrapher.
Used the LED light under the work to make it stand out thetrace of the brush.
3-6 Traces 『風』”wind”

3-5 Traces “One” scenery of the exhhibition2「風」 wind
Digital Printing (ink jet) Tarpaulin H200mm × W3300mm

Scenery of the exhibition photo by Yuna Yagi
3-7 Traces 「風」 Exhibition scenery

「交」 “Mingling” Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha
Digital Printing) ® Paper
H515mm×W728mm
3-9 Traces 「今」”Now”
Exhibition scenery photo by Yuna Yagi
With the photo work, exhibited the “wind” calligraphy when
wrote while shooting. Printed in the maximum photo size to beable to exhibited. Exhibited in the size approximately the real

「今」”Now” Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha Digital

light trace.

Printing) ® Paper
H515mm×W728mm

3-8 Traces 「交」”MIngling”

3-10 Traces 「重」”Weight”

「重」 ”Weight”

Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha「心」”Mind” Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha Digital

Digital Printing) ® Paper

Printing) ® Paper

H515mm×W728mm

H515mm×W728mm

3-11 Traces 「閃」 “Inspiration”

3-13 Traces 「鬱」”Depression”「閃」“Inspiration” Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha「鬱」”Depression” Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha

Digital Printing) ® Paper

Digital Printing) ® Paper

H515mm×W728mm

H515mm×W728mm

3-12 「心」”Mind”

3-14 Traces 「力」”Power”

「力」”Power” Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha Digital「流」 ”Passage” Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha Digital

Printing) ® Paper

Printing) ® Paper

H515mm×W728mm

H515mm×W728mm

3-15 Traces 「永」 ”Eternity”

3-17 Traces Exhibition Photos「永」”Eternity” Digital Printing (Ink jet) NDP (Nissha Digital
Printing) ® Paper

Exhibition scenery photo by Yuna Yagi

H515mm×W728mm

3-16 Traces 「流」”Passage”

3-18 Traces 「瞑想」”Meditation”

3-20 Traces 「瞑想」”Meditation” One photo

Meditation Sublimation Transfer Fabright ® H1,030mm ×

3-21 Traces “Meditation” Exhibition scenery

W728mmExhibition scenery by Yuna Yagi
3-19 Traces 「瞑想」”Meditation” parts

The first action when starting the creation is to rug the ink stick.
It has a very important role of action. It is the begging of thetime to get focused and control the breath, and I think theseactions themselves are the creation. Pour the water in the ink
stone, rub the ink stick, soap the brush with the ink, the action
before starting writing, we visualized those actions by wearing
the light on the right index finger. In this work, we used 200
photographs to trace the movement for two hours.

Exhibition Scenery photo by Yuna Yagi

3-22 Traces「瞬」“Moment” Exhibition scenery 13-23 Traces 「瞬」 “Moment” Exhibition scenery2
Custom Software, Display system Variable in size
3-25 Making 2
We recorded more than 50 positions of my body and brush
movement, using high precision motion capture with 1/120
seconds accuracy.
We tried to visualize the calligraphy as three dimension object.
The photos are used to record how to write in the real space,
and the computer graphic is used to capture each moment.
Those two different ways of recording the movement of the“brush”, “foot”, and the “body”.
(Kousei IKEDA)
3-24 Making 1

The production of Traces was a collaboration work with Mr.

The movement of the body writing letters changes depending

Ikeda. I could not have completed by myself.

on the size of the letter, so I would like to challenge on the full

I truly appreciate the fact that as professionals in the different

size calligraphy.

field, he gave me the new ideas and the taught me new

I would like to work on something that I can only create intechnologies and point of views.

this current-day, listening to professionals of the different

I was moved especially with the motion capture. With thisfields and using latest technologies, and at the same time, by

technique we can save the work as data. I am sure that if we

focusing on characteristics of calligraphy; an art that we cancould have all the datas of the historical Chinese and Japanesere-experience the body movement of the people from thousands

calligraphers, the way of the reproduction of old calligraphiesof years ago. I would also like to keep developing by not ignoring

had been changed. For my personal record, I wish to save thethings I doubt, even when things don’t happen as expected, I

data of the movement of my whole body as I get older.

would like to keep going.

[Prospects for the future]
I have been working on calligraphy through “ko-ou” series
and Traces trying to visualize each movement of the brush in
the air as some thing we can imagine.
From now on, to develop these works, it is indispensable tolearn more about calligraphy in the future.
It should lead me to see the movement of the brush in the airmuch clearer than now. I should be discovering clue for the next
work which could be hidden, acquire new perspective.