Tsuyoshi Maekawa (JAPANESE, B. 1936)

Maekawa's artistic creation fully elaborates the physical quality – its texture, surface, and tenacity - of the chosen material burlap. The application of oil paint allows further surficial glossiness and hardness, giving an object in everyday completely different and new meaning. The vivid designs meticulously planned out by the artist possess an organic and flowing quality. The landscape-like paintings woven out of burlap is reminiscent of the paintings of Japan’s traditional Rimpa school. Maekawa constructs a three- dimensional illusion on the canvas using woven fabric, from which a new way of reading this piece of art is proposed. The artist guides viewers to look at the painting horizontally at first – browsing through every inch of the canvas, then takes their eyes off it before re-entering with an aerial view. (Fig.1)