Cris Worley Fine Arts in Dallas is pleased to announce our second solo exhibition with Nishiki Sugawara-Beda, Air Tales, which opens January 6th and runs through February 10th with an artist’s reception on Saturday, January 6th from 4 – 7pm. The artist will be in attendance. 

The artmaking process of Nishiki Sugawara-Beda requires prior mental preparation to achieve a meditative quality in her paintings. The enigmatic series of KuroKuroShiro (Black, Black, White) captivates the viewer by the interplay of the washes of light ink and bold brushwork alluding to the old masters of monochrome ink painting. Her inspiration is Zen artist and monk Sengai Gibon (1750-1837) recognized for a quick and evocative manner to express his religious views and playful attitude. Gibon’s statement that his “play with brush and ink is not calligraphy nor painting” reflects the Buddhist concept of emptiness as an expression for the ultimate truth. Sugawara-Beda explores the idea of emptiness, which is prolific and absolute, as the abstracted shapes generate multiple meanings from the essence of formlessness.

Air Tales continues with the theme of emptiness so central to her work. This exhibition revolves around two large- scale scrolls in triptych configuration, the subject of both referring to the landscape. Here, Sugawara-Beda explores more negative space, more “airiness” allowing the viewer more opportunity for interpretation of the stories the land may hold.