Tōryanse — The Gate

Sumi ink, mineral pigments, gofun, coral, cinnabar, and gold on mashi (hemp paper), mounted as hanging scroll (triptych)
Image: 22 × 20 in. each panel; scroll: 48 × 12 in. each

Created for Kitsune / Bewitched, an invitational exhibition organized by Priscilla Otani at Arc Gallery & Studios, Tōryanse — The Gate draws from childhood memories connected to visits to Fushimi Inari Taisha and the lingering atmosphere surrounding fox imagery, gates, ritual spaces, and stories carried through memory.

The title references the traditional Japanese children’s song Tōryanse, often associated with passing through a gate or crossing a threshold. In the work, the gate becomes both a physical and psychological passage — a space between memory and imagination, the visible and invisible, safety and uncertainty.

The triptych was created as a set of hanging scrolls using sumi ink, mineral pigments, gofun, and gold on paper. The central scroll incorporates the phrase Ah-Un (阿吽), suggesting paired opposites, breath, beginning and ending. Rather than illustrating folklore directly, the fox appears as an ambiguous presence emerging through accumulated gesture, layering, and atmosphere.

More broadly, the work connects to my ongoing interest in how encounters, memories, and unseen emotional traces become embedded within material surfaces over time.

Kitsune Project

The spiral lines are painted in hand-prepared gofun, a traditional white pigment made from aged oyster and scallop shells.