CREATIVE POWER

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
SHOWA OKAMURA
CREATIVE POWER

Newsweek magazine1999 Nov.22
Newsweek magazine photo

Japanese artist Showa Okamura combines the most time-honored of forms -Kiri-e(cut-paper pictures)- with the most inventive of processes:photocopying onto washi, , a traditional Japanese paper. Here he discusses his views on the power of creativity.

QUESTION What do you think are the principles of your creativity?

OKAMURA Creative power is imbued with an enthusiastic spirit that is different from simple everyday behavior, of course. However, I have not given much conscious thought to a "power source." If pressed t give an answer, I will say that I feel inside myself the existence of a pilgrim sensibility- a sense that is both I and not I.
That is a sensibility that while moving away from the "small country" called myself and repeatedly undergoing 'ekkyou'(crossing boundaries)freely, I go on to flow into the inscrutable yet abundant 'large country' known as humankind. That is neither male nor female. Ekkyou involves men crossing boundaries into a woman's world, and women crossing into a man's world. Then they transform into men and women different from what they had been up to then.

QUESTION What advice do you have for people who want to become more creative?

OKAMURA I think the foundation of creativity lies in not being confused by "existing ideas." What associations come to your mind when you hear or see their words "man" and "woman"; what do you deny, and what do you confirm?
I believe that to doubt that cheap and easy first image is the first step in cultivating creativity. Attempt such study and speculation leisurely. Once you do, you should gradually get an actual sense of how much you have been corroded and affected by ready-made images.

Of course, nothing along the lines of a convenient method or a manual for "becoming creative" exists. The qualities an individual person is born with play a major role in creativity, but this is also affected by his or her living environment and educational background. In any case it is important to keep the switch of the "sensibility transformation equipment" within the self "on" constantly. By that I mean the internal equipment for wanting to change oneself into a more creative person.

QUESTION What is life like in Japan as a practitioner of nontraditional modern art?

OKAMURA I myself have no particular consciousness of being a modern artist. Matsuo Basho, the greatest haiku poet ever in Japan, related the following words about the essence of art:" You can't handle the foundation without knowing what is immutable, and nothing good will be born when you are unfamiliar with what is in fashion. "
Although traditional art forms such as Kabuki and Nihonga (Japanese-style paintings)exist in Japanese society, we Japanese people do not live with a distinct consciousness of the contrasts between traditional and modern. We live within a gentle jumble of modern things in a traditional air. I myself harbor such an ambiguous comfort. That is to say, I am continuing to make works while occasionally feeling estranged from the air of Japan.

Gellery > Biography > Newsweek

Japanese artist Showa Okamura combines the most time-honored of forms -Kiri-e(cut-paper pictures)- with the most inventive of processes:photocopying onto washi, , a traditional Japanese paper. Here he discusses his views on the power of creativity.
QUESTION	What do you think are the principles of your creativity?
OKAMURA	Creative power is imbued with an enthusiastic spirit that is different from simple everyday behavior, of course. However, I have not given much conscious thought to a "power source." If pressed t give an answer, I will say that I feel inside myself the existence of a pilgrim sensibility- a sense that is both I and not I. That is a sensibility that while moving away from the "small country" called myself and repeatedly undergoing 'ekkyou'(crossing boundaries)freely, I go on to flow into the inscrutable yet abundant 'large country' known as humankind. That is neither male nor female. Ekkyou involves men crossing boundaries into a woman's world, and women crossing into a man's world. Then they transform into men and women different from what they had been up to then.
QUESTION	What advice do you have for people who want to become more creative?
OKAMURA	I think the foundation of creativity lies in not being confused by "existing ideas." What associations come to your mind when you hear or see their words "man" and "woman"; what do you deny, and what do you confirm? I believe that to doubt that cheap and easy first image is the first step in cultivating creativity. Attempt such study and speculation leisurely. Once you do, you should gradually get an actual sense of how much you have been corroded and affected by ready-made images. Of course, nothing along the lines of a convenient method or a manual for "becoming creative" exists. The qualities an individual person is born with play a major role in creativity, but this is also affected by his or her living environment and educational background. In any case it is important to keep the switch of the "sensibility transformation equipment" within the self "on" constantly. By that I mean the internal equipment for wanting to change oneself into a more creative person.
QUESTION	What is life like in Japan as a practitioner of nontraditional modern art?
OKAMURA	I myself have no particular consciousness of being a modern artist. Matsuo Basho, the greatest haiku poet ever in Japan, related the following words about the essence of art:" You can't handle the foundation without knowing what is immutable, and nothing good will be born when you are unfamiliar with what is in fashion. " Although traditional art forms such as Kabuki and Nihonga (Japanese-style paintings)exist in Japanese society, we Japanese people do not live with a distinct consciousness of the contrasts between traditional and modern. We live within a gentle jumble of modern things in a traditional air. I myself harbor such an ambiguous comfort. That is to say, I am continuing to make works while occasionally feeling estranged from the air of Japan.

SHOWA OKAMURA CREATIVE POWER

SHOWA OKAMURA
CREATIVE POWER