Featured Artist - December 2013  Jim Hay

JIM HAY - Japan
EMAIL | artist page | website

Five Natural Elements

The Japanese concept has five components: earth, wind, fire, water and
nothingness. I have selected three of those elements today.

Dust to Dust
Moonlight shines through a hole in the ground to become a spotlight for
the rabbits' underground nightclub. The magician pulls a rabbit out of a
hat. Moles stumble in a tunnel, “the blind leading the blind”*.
The “earth” element is an allegory of underground beings in various life
activities; work, play, magic, awareness, blindness. For all, there is a final
return: “earth to earth, dust to dust”**.
* Pieter Bruegel the Elder
** Burial Service from Genesis 3:19

Wedding in the Wind
Wind is often destructive in this age of global warming, but I have
decided to be more lighthearted: I recently watched a windy outdoor
wedding from my 9th floor Tokyo hotel room. This is my interpretation.
The fallen priest reveals his skinny legs, the bride’s father loses his wig,
the groom holds the ring but lets the bride blow away. The actual quilt
blows off the background. The artist and his wife hang on to the edge
for dear life.

Nothing“mu” 無
無 is “mu”: Nothing, emptiness, the void where forces of earth, wind, fire
and water interact (五大)*. 無 is no rules, non-definition, an allowance
from which art can arise. 無 invites young quilt makers to become artists.
Art arises from chaos into content, from blank space into form, from
emptiness into personal and social communication. Within “nothing”
there is all.

Creation is a process both quick and slow. Quick: cut, don't draw, sew
fast. Split-second decisions bring creative possibilities. Slow: keep
creative during long months of construction, don't make fnished plans
ahead. Move images, add, delete. Trust solves problems. Go to sleep.
There will be a new answer by morning. Observe miracles.

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