Taikei Kato
加藤 堆繋

Calligraphy is essentially the expression of oneself through the act of “spontaneous form creation” and embodies the beauty of rhythm. The Calligraphy works share similar appearance with architecture and is also described as music that coagulates.

As a student, Taikei Kato became aware of the relationship between the movement of his own body and space itself while writing large works that exceeded his height. While contemplating on this relationship, he encountered the works of Abstract Expressionism. He then travelled to New York to explore the fusion of calligraphy and abstract painting.

Kato was initially fascinated by abstraction even earlier in his life when he first saw the calligraphy stone carvings among the cultural and historical sites in China. Both the way the Chinese characters engraved on the huge rock weathered and blended into nature and the ink rubbings which captured them radiated the beauty of abstraction. After returning to Japan from New York, he found a similarity between the abstract beauty of the Calligraphy stone carvings and the way the ink bled through the paper which became the foundation of his own method for abstract expression of Chinese characters.

Thereon, while infusing his works with spirituality through the world of Chinese characters, Chinese poetry, and classical literature, Kato has introduced painting-like creative techniques, such as making preliminary sketches. As he continues to explore the conflicting vectors of "calligraphy and painting," "tradition and avant-garde," and "figurative and abstract, he has finally achieved his own unique artistic expression.