KOBO Seattle | since 1995
$ 450.00
Glass Pyrograph on embossed paper, 2007.
11.5” x 7.5”
The embossed texts are written in Japanese in Roman alphabet, and are selected essays from Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness). It was written sometime between 1330 and 1332 by Kaneyoshi Urabe (a.k.a. Kenko Yoshida), a Zen Buddhist monk, and is comprised of a preface and 243 passages. Tsurezuregusa is widely considered a gem of medieval Japanese literature.
Preface:
"What a strange, demented feeling it gives me when I realize I have spent whole days before this inkstone, with nothing better to do, jotting down at random whatever nonsensical thoughts have entered my head."
Made by Seattle-based artist Etsuko Ichikawa
Etsuko Ichikawa is a Tokyo-born, Seattle-based, multi-media artist. Ichikawa graduated from Tokyo Zokei University in Japan in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. In 1993 she worked with Dale Chihuly as a studio assistant for eight years and became independent in 2003. Ichikawa’s work has been exhibited internationally and is represented by Winston Wächter Fine Art in Seattle and New York In 2020, she was awarded the prestigious Artist Trust Innovator Award for her work with uranium glass.