Takesada Matsutani

The process of him using his breath in order to make the vinyl skins of his paintings creates three dimensional, organic shapes upon the canvas, ‘transforming this commonplace substance into something magical that straddles the line between painting and sculpture.’ (Ursula, 2022) and ‘brings the material to life’ (Ursula, 2022).

This life-giving attitude is central to Gutai Art, a Japanese art collective Matsutani is associated with whose focus centred ‘on the merging [of] human and material properties’ (Ursula, 2022). Interestingly, the word ‘Gutai’ has been ‘been translated into English as ‘embodiment’’ (Tate, 2022). 

While I do not think my practice has much of an aesthetic link, there is a relationship and dialogue between the making and the material which feels important, as well as honesty to the material language and forms. I really enjoy the tactility of these works. And they are not complicated either, such a simple process rooted to the act of breathing. There is a similarity to these works and my Breath Drawings but not one I claim to be any more than incidental in process, the accomplishment of these works goes beyond what I could of hoped to of achieved in a very literal way. Knowing that they have come from a breath, which has literally been captured in material form, holds them in this permanent state of a lucid and delicate flow. They are like suspended moments and experiences.