What's Tomiyuki Sakuta?
I was born in Yamagata prefecture in 1960. It is the north of Japan. I was growing in the country side. You can see a small village which is surrounded by huge rice fields. It had a few cozy temples or shrines. It had only one elementary or and junior high school which I went.
When I was in elementary school, I think that it was most fantastic age of my life. Some pictures that are about elementary school trip or something still remain. I seemed really happy in these photos. I am smiling in every picture with friends shoulder to shoulder. Every student is neighbors or maybe friend who knew well each other. I even knew their parent’s name. I went to school almost every day, even in summer holiday. I studied little, ate school lunch, and played many games after school. We played tag, hide-and-seek, Menko which is like a Japanese card game, and so on. In summer holiday, I swan on swimming pool every day. Sometimes we caught fishes by the lance in near the river, and swan in there. Then I lied down on the warm riverside rocks which were heated by the summer sunshine. It was such a comfortable feeling! I and every my gang friends were always had good tans on our skins. Day after day, we used to be crazy about catching cicadas in near temple. I’m not sure, why I was fascinated by them. In winter, a lot of snow was around us everywhere. You can see many icicles hanging from the roof. You can see beautiful mountains covered snow on the every horizon. These mountain’s shape are still remains in deep my mind.
My teacher named Kowada was young energetic man. He taught us a few interesting objects. These were Ping-pong, swimming, and how to eat school lunch quickly. Most impressive one is Chinese ink painting. We learned how to use brush and India ink on the model of Sessyu. Maybe Mr.Kowada’s hobby was just an ink painting. It was too high level object to the elementary student, but I liked it. Actually, I was taking a lesson in Japanese calligraphy a day in a week. I was good at using a brush a bit. I loved the shape of the Chinese character, and wrote them. I felt that Sessyu’s works were amazing. That smell of India ink remembered me about my boyhood.
In the upper grades of elementary school, I was good at doing sports, running, swimming, and ball game. We always play ball game like a baseball after school in the schoolyard or vacancy of the shrine.
When I was in junior high school, I couldn’t remember that I had really fun from the bottom of my heart. I was getting be introvert boy. I remember clearly that I had to put on my glasses at first at the end of elementary age. I was so embarrassed because nobody needed the glasses in my class. I became gradually serious student. Sometimes I smoked cigarettes with my gang friends. I thought so deep about several kinds of curiosities, poem, novel, music, art, and also of course girl. I think that my junior high was a lyrical age. In the midnight, while I was reading novel of Herman Hesse, I listened to the Japanese folk music from the radio. That was my favorite time. Sometimes while I smoked the cigarette with a coffee, I mumbled the poem of Takuboku Ishikawa. And then I was in love with a classmate-girl. But that was only my imagination not the real love. Sometimes I went out to sketch. I liked to paint a structure of the shrine or something with watercolors. It was very comfortable time.
The other hand, I belonged to the basketball club activity. At the beginning of the junior high, I loved to play ball game. But one day, a small and massive coach became to come to our gym. Actually, he was not a formal coach. He was just our senior, and worked at the cloth shop in our village. He was too strict. We, every team member had to stand upright in from of him, because sometimes he hit some of us by his slipper. We were scared. Maybe some teachers knew his abnormal training, but nobody stopped him. I never let him, but I also didn’t do anything.
Although I still liked a basketball, gradually I couldn’t enjoy this. In addition to, I had a knee ache which was in the growing age. I had to have a small operation. I was excepted from a list of regular members. I was really disappointed.
When I was a high school student, I went to school by bike for 30 minutes every day. That high school was in the city which was next to my village. Actually, that town was not so big, but I felt it like a big city in those days.
I wanted to play basketball again, but I decided to join the art club activity. I just wanted to paint an oil painting like Vincent van Gogh. I liked the works of the post-impressionists. My first oil painting work is a hospital structure of Europeans style. I was fascinated by oil ink’s brightness or smell. By the way, there were some clever members in this club. One is a great reader, the other is a quite technician of drawing, and so on. I was getting to be interested in charcoal drawing. Every after class, I sketched the plaster figures day after day. Gradually I thought to want to become a painter.
When I was 2nd grade in high school, I joined the art summer session for 3 weeks. That was organized by the art preparatory school in Tokyo. It was a first time to go to Tokyo. I was really excited by not only the new art lesson but also staying at the big city. I got a senior of art club to stay his apartment. In this time, he was a student of the Tokyo Art University called Geidai. Every young artist wanted to enter the Geidai, so I also wasn’t an exception. I drew a necked woman with oil paint for the first time on this summer school. At the last class, the instructor commented on my work as a most superior one. It was a miracle for me.
I was getting to lose an interesting the other objects in class. The other hands, I longed to enter Geidai, and then to live in Tokyo. But I failed an examination that was for entrance to Geidai.
I went to Tokyo after graduation from high school. I rent a narrow apartment near Shinjuku. I attended art preparatory school for university entrance examination. There were many eccentric young people who wanted to be an artist in there. At first, I felt that they were almost better talented than me in drawing.
I was in an absent in those days. I seemed to lose my purpose of my life for a while. Therefore, I used to play a Japanese upright pinball game almost every day. I drank cheap liquor too much. I had been with a too sensitive sense all the time. I didn’t concentrate to learn how to paint for examination. I couldn’t to take the time easily every day. I used to keep a diary to write those sensitive feelings. Those were almost about a girlfriend and a lot of negative thinking.
I remember that days now, it was hardest day in my life. The hardest day didn’t mean busy. Actually I had a lot of time, so I could to look myself from the bottom of my heart. Maybe it was just too serious and too deep. Therefore, I read a lot of novels, Yukio Mishima, Kaoru Shoji, and so on. Mishima moved me very much. ‘Confessions of a Mask’ was my most favorite novel. It was a comfortable time to read fiction. I was crazy about his novels and also his suicide affair. All the time, I listened to the music of Simon & Garfunkel, Beatles, and the other rock music.
After a year, I took an examination for entrance to the art university. But I failed all of them, too. I decided to start over again. It was not unusual things that we spent to learn drawing for a few years for examination in Japan.
Next year, at long last, I pass the examination. I was really relieved.
I began to attend to the Tokyo Zokei art & design university. It was far from center of Tokyo, or was not big one. But I satisfied that I just became a college student. I made a few friends who seemed to be good at the several things. I played a guitar with them on a school festival. I listened to the hard rock, Led Zeppelin, etc. I wrote an own novel in imitation of Mishima. I might enjoy that kind of school life, but tell you the truth, I had not so fun from the bottom of my heart.
One day, I met an art book which was Max Ernst’s collage works. It was inexpensive book, but really inspired me. It was the first time to find the surrealism work. After that, I became to love the other artists, Dari, Hausner, Fucks, and so on.
Now, from 60s to 70s, we had a very exciting date for the Japanese printmaking world. Many printmaker presented new conceptual print in the International print competition. Masuo Ikeda, etching printmaker got a prize in Tokyo international print biennial. And he was also awarded Akutagawa prize which was most famous novel’s one. And then he directed his movie. He became a star as a multi talent although a printmaker. We often could see him on TV show in those days. I read his novels and essays that impressed me. I wanted to become like him who was active in the all over the world.
By the way, I had been belonging to the Japan Print Association after graduation. I became to work as a secretariat of it for 3 years. That was not only to get money, but also making friends of printmaker. I really wanted to have a relation with some good artists who were same age. I was a teacher for 9 years, so I had few opportunities to see them.
Anyway, I still continued to make the collage style work. But I was getting to lose the interest in the collage. Then I stopped to use the color ink. The other hands, the techniques of the intaglio print was always motivated me to try to make a new work. Actually, intaglio print had many curious techniques. I was not tired of using a new technique.
I think that my work is personal expression. I hope that you don’t misunderstand me, but the most important thing is self-satisfaction for my expression. Well, I am a stubborn artist in this point. If someone advised me about my work, I refuse them, although sometimes I really worry about that. Whatever I obeyed their advise, my work can’t be getting better. In fact, I am not good at teaching art because of that my policy. When I have to teach or advise to the student, I confused and worry about what I should say. If their work was good, it was easy for me to have a good word for them. But if their work was not good, I confused so much. I never want to say that their work is worse or something like that. If someone said to me like that, I would say, “Leave me alone.” I think that the art is not taught and an artist is not taught about the art.
Anyway, Masuo Ikeda said in his essay that he drew by needle like a Wols. He also said that the beginning of the creation is from the imitation. I think so, too. I also did so. The young artist especially wants to draw like their favorite artist. And it is a natural motivation, I think. Although I am an artist, in fact, I am enough to be an artisan. I am not a type of parson who insist own concept to the outside. I just want to draw my favorite work all days. I want to draw like Henri Rousseau.
Taro Okamoto said in his essay that a true art is not to be a comfortable. I was really influenced from his ideology. I don’t want to make etching work just like an interior decoration. At one time, I shouldn’t draw the beauties of nature like a flower, a butterfly, a wind and a moon. But actually, I draw a flower now. A favorite thing is changing little by little. I used to draw like Van Gogh, but I am not so interested in his work now.
Anyway, I started to make copper printing. At first, I made some photo-etching works. I tried to make the etching in the style of the collage. But I was not able to satisfy. At last, I find out that the drawing was the most freest. The solid touch of a needle was comfortable for me, when it scratch on the surface of copperplate. When I was final grade of the University, I made the etching works from morning till night. I felt that it was calm and full life.
After I graduated from the university, I became a high school teacher. When I finish the university, some of my friends continued their art work while he did a part time job. At that time, I wondered that I became a teacher.
First five years, I put all my heart into my job. I was excited to teach young students art object or something else. Some of my colleagues were also young and energetic. We often drank together much while we were talking about lovely students.
I went to the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb museum with students on the school trip. I was shocked by awful display of museum. I think that every Japanese have to come there to see them. I felt strongly how stupid the war is. Then, against war became my fundamental opinion. I didn’t know the war well, although I had heard from my father about his war experience. I had been growing up in the peaceful age. Japanese economy was also growing up. The other hand, my generations didn’t have a firm opinion, did they? And we were weak, I thought. I used to read some novels which were written about the campus activism of the `60s. Those novels were for example, ‘saredo-wareraga-hibi’ by Sho Shibata. Actually I was interested in the campus activism, because they had a firm opinion. At least their age was energetic.
I started to take a tennis lesson once a week. It was fun. I felt I loved ball game ever since childhood. A hitting a ball always refreshed me. But I am weak on playing a game, because I don’t like to beat the opponent. I just want to hit the ball strongly, that’s why I was enough. Tennis is only my hobby, and it has been continued to the present.
Gradually, I was getting tired to teach. The teaching was not only how to draw in my class, but also I had to train their ill-mannered behavior. Sometimes we had to walk around the student’s toilet. We found that they were smoking a cigarette, and then we had to get angry. Of course, their smoking was foolish, but I was also to do when I was in high school. And I was still smoking at that time. I thought what a stupid teacher we were. It seemed nonsense but we must to do so. I was so exhausted every day. I couldn’t make any own work. I couldn’t make just only two etching works in a year. I married a coworker who taught English. I got a few prizes in the print competition. I couldn’t stand to stay to be a high school teacher. I left a job that I worked for 9 years.
In 1993, I became a free-lance printmaker. I was anxious about my future a little. But I had felt refreshed. I was happy to involve in my work. I got few part time jobs which were teacher of the college, workshop, and so on. But these were not enough to get money of life.
In 1995, I took a trip to Belgium, and I stayed for 3 weeks as an artist-in-residence in the printing studio called Frans Mazereel Centram. Foreign artists and I were worked in same space of the studio, and we were getting to be friends. It was a fantastic experience for me. I visited an old church, and saw The Ghent Alter Piece from Fan Eyck. It was really amazing work. I was inspired so much, that’s why I couldn’t leave in front of his picture for about 2 hours. It was the first time to feel that kind of deep emotion. I noticed that my favorite artists were in northern Renaissance. I didn’t know why. Because, I was not sure, I was from north Japan. I liked Bosch, Weyden, Cranach, Grunewald, and Arcimboldo.
I used to draw like collage, but I had to leave my old style, because I was tied of that. And I had to look for a new style or concept. Every artist must be looking for it every time. You know, it is hard.
In 2005, I got a first prize at an international print competition. Although it was a best career of my life, it was not so excellent one which changed my life pretty well.
The other hand, I had been in an empty feeling at that time. I was not sure why I was so. Actually, I didn’t have enough jobs, so I hardly spoke to someone even a few words in a day. I wanted to change my life.
In 2006, I got a fellowship of Japanese government, and I stayed as an artist in residence for a year in the Netherlands. Before I decided to go there, I checked the other studios in Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh. These were also active print studios. But finally, I decided to go the Netherlands. First reason is, I liked a paint of Netherlands for a long time. Second reason is, I had a good friend who worked at the printing studio in the Netherlands.
In those days, actually I had been bothered a backache and having a depression. I was not sure what the cause of that was. I was already 46 years old. I was not a young one. Those might were from vague sense of worrying about my future.
There was one unforgettable happening. It was when I left from Japan to the Netherlands. At the Narita airport, I said good-bye to my wife, then I through the departure gate. At that time, suddenly tears were falling down. The tears fell down one after another, and I couldn’t stop it for about 1 hour. I had never expected that.
It was an believable things. I was not sure I was lonely, sad, nurvous.... A lot of tears were just falling down very quietly.
To be continued
The other hands, I had been looking for what I really should do. Actually, I had been tired of drawing an oil painting of an academic style, because I already practiced them for 2 years. I didn’t want to make an old fashioned art work. I want to express just a cool work. I tried to make screen printing work like Andy Warhol. The process of the print work was so different from the oil work. The oil paint is drawn on canvas directly, but the print making needed a few process or experiences. It was important to use techniques or patient. That’s why, maybe it fit me. For example, I was just excited by the sound of the vacuum machine which was used to print. A printmaking didn’t need to draw directly. I took the photos for making an image of work like Man Ray.
