Max Gimblett
Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1935
daruma sitting
- 2009
- Sumi ink / Thai Garden Plain Smooth 100% Kozo Handmade Paper
- The Max Gimblett and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Gift
- 762 x 559mm
- 2011/136
Tags: abstraction, Buddhism, circles (plane figures), monochrome, quatrefoils, religious art
“Enso is perhaps the leading motif in Japanese calligraphy. It certainly has become mine. It took maybe fifteen years’ drawing before my ensos became round – previously they were ovals or sort of one-sided squeezed circles as I misjudged my centre and ran towards the left or right side of the paper. Also, I had not resolved my in and out; practice makes perfect. […] I was introduced to Zen calligraphy in San Francisco. I studied with the Japanese masters of all ages; they came to my studio and instructed me when I invoked their name.” —Max Gimblett (Max Gimblett: Ocean Wheel, 1 August – 15 November 2020)