Clouds

Clouds is a series begun in 2013 as an iteration of my Hamon paintings, named after the cloud-like patterns that appear along the edge of a Japanese sword during the tempering process. Each painting is executed with a technique combining printing and painting with ink on aluminum composite panel and based on a photograph of a cloud observed at a specific moment and place. The titles—recording the exact date, time, and location—mark fixed coordinates in space-time. Clouds function as a natural clock, their forms shifting by the millisecond.

The series comprises several sub-groups: Unkai (meaning “a sea of clouds”); Chou-un (clouds that resemble a flock of birds in the sky); Kumo (meaning simply “cloud,” focused on distilled forms); Unkan (which explores the spatial intervals, or ma, between clouds); and Night Clouds (formations present overhead in darkness, often unnoticed). These variations reflect an ongoing investigation into visual and linguistic lacunae. Terms such as chou-un and unkai have no English equivalents, revealing differences in value systems through language and the lexical gaps it makes visible. These works belong to my Extinction Diary: an ongoing record of micro-observations, chronicled through my artwork. They serve as a method of self-location, shaped by mono no aware—an awareness of impermanence that informs perception.