Formless Form
A student of avant-garde Japanese sho-artist Morita Shiryu, Ronald Y. Nakasone believes that the art of sho (calligraphy) is an opportunity for the sho-artist to give form to his or her formless spiritual landscape.
The art of sho (calligraphy) can be properly called abstract art. It is non-figurative, non-objective, and non-representational. Aesthetic and creative interests lead the sho-artist to "play" with their constructions (form and stroke order), to explore the potential and limitations of the brush, the textures of ink and paper, and to give form to feelings and thoughts. Just as a geographer studies the features of the Earth and the impact of human activity on the physical landscape, the study and appreciation of sho entail the study of the visual features--line, time (rhythm), and space--that emerge as the brush moves across the writing surface. Lines possess a myriad of characteristics. Some are harsh and cold, others soft and warm, while others are dynamic, bold, and fluid. Still others display strength, vigor, steadfastness, profundity, and playfulness. Space, an essential aesthetic quality, is not a passive medium in which forms are located or where events occur; rather it defines and is the source from which form emerges. Form in turn creates space that gives meaning and efficacy to form. The interplay of black form and white space are in full display in any work of sho.
The pliant brush, free flowing ink and absorbent paper are the ideal tools to record the breath and physical rhythm of the sho-artist's mastery of the brush as it engages with ink and paper. In addition to communicating the writer's intention, feelings, thoughts, and memories, the hand written word reveals the sho-artist's formless spiritual dwelling place (kyogai). The art of sho is a vehicle through which the sho-artist discovers, nurtures, and gives form to his or her formless spiritual landscape, chronicling an aesthetic and spiritual pilgrimage. The art of formless-form has the capacity to transport the sho-artist to a rarefied world; formless-forms can embrace and draw the viewer into that world.
