Kitsune: Ghosts & Shadows: Inuit & Torii
45" x  28"
Oil, pigment, mixed media on canvas
2019

After a trip to Japan in 2018 I started a new series of work using Japanese influences. These paintings have their roots in works by a master Japanese printmaker, Kiyoshi Saito (1907-1997).

Using forms that evoke a landscape  such as trees and stones in water, the  simple composition is of truncated subjects with areas of large solid colors contrasting with high textures. The collapsing of the foreground and background into the same place provides intriguing juxtapositions. Kitsune (sacred fox) is the messenger to the god Inari, and has many mystical attributes including shape shiftinginto human form, typically as a woman. Kitsune can be a helpful or a devious spirit to humans.