A Journey of Art Painted with Ink and Soul

Maaya Wakasugi, born 1977, who is currently based in Bordeaux, France, is originally from Tamano city in Okayama Prefecture. He started practicing calligraphy at the age of 6 and later became a disciple of Gyogetsu Akatsuka (1946-2020). Akatsuka’s calligraphy is influenced by the style of Yuzhao Zhang (1823-1894), a renowned scholar from the late Qing dynasty in China. Yuzhao Zhang studied the block style script (楷書) of the Northern Wei dynasty and was a person who incorporated the essence of “stone carving,” which said to be the origin of calligraphy, into his own work. It is said that the characteristics of the Northern Wei’s block style scripts were inadvertently influenced by the way the carver inserted the knife into the stone, not exactly following the original brushwork, resulting in sharp and angular strokes that tend to rise upwards to the right, giving a robust impression. Eishi Miyajima (1867-1943), a Japanese calligraphevr who apprenticed under Yuzhao inherited and mastered this brush technique, and when leaving China, he was lamented by his peers with the words “The calligraphy of China heads east,” indicating the transmission of Chinese calligraphy to Japan.

After World War II, Shinzan Kamij. (1907-1997) advocated for the necessity of reviving brush calligraphy in school education in Japan and devoted himself to this cause. He was a disciple of Eishi Miyajima and inherited the “reverse entry, smooth exit(逆入平出)” brush technique, establishing his own unique style of calligraphy. He won a special selection at the 7th Japan Fine Arts Exhibition, the largest comprehensive art exhibition in Japan, and led the calligraphy world thereafter. Among the many universities where he taught, Daito Bunka University is known as the first in Japan to establish a department of calligraphy studies. Gyogetsu Akatsuka became his student and disciple, and naturally, Maaya also proceeded to the same university.

During his university years, Maaya deepened his study of calligraphy under Setsuzan Tanaka, who inherited Shinzan Kamij.’s style. He witnessed the movement of Shinzan-style brushwork countless times. Until then, he had imagined that aiming for lines that seemed carved into stone would involve slow brush movements, but he was surprised by the speed at which the calligraphy was executed, contrary to his expectations. Furthermore, the splattering of ink that adorned the paper surface, and the contrast between the powerful brush lines and the light splatter, thrilled him. I believe that this experience became an indispensable element when discussing Maaya’s work.

When speaking of Maaya’s calligraphy, one cannot overlook his work that became the title logo of the NHK’s historical TV series “Onna Joushu Naotora” in 2017. It was an unparalleled opportunity to reach a broad audience. Maaya used the powerful, carving-like lines he had admired and mastered since his youth to create compelling calligraphy, further highlighted by the dynamic sense of the brush and resulting ink splatter. Although paper is a two-dimensional medium, the presence of carving-like lines aiming downwards and ink droplets that seem to jump onto the paper surface creates a three-dimensional effect due to the contradictory vectors. Maaya is keenly aware of the “sense of depth,” the source of emotion, whether in his calligraphy or transforming the stage into a canvas.

The coexistence of two opposing elements in one place is referred to as “Yin and Yang” in Eastern philosophy, and Maaya’s art expression embodies the harmony of Yin and Yang. Now based in Bordeaux, France, with his studio, he has shifted his medium from washi paper to canvas. To other calligraphers, the choice of a thick fabric that does not absorb ink might seem unbelievable, but Maaya says with a smile “it is not a challenge, but an adventure”. Starting to study painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux and sincerely engaging with canvas deepened his understanding of Eastern “calligraphy.” On the canvas, he places paint and performs a once-in-a-lifetime dance on its layered stage. That is the form of Maaya’s “calligraphy.”

“Western” and “Eastern,” building up and carving away. Aware of his sexual minority status and in the past performed as a drag queen, Maaya embodies both “male” and “female” within him. Indeed, the keyword in Maaya Wakasugi’s art expression would be the harmony of Yin and Yang. Calligraphy, no matter what, cannot be separated from “characters.” The same applies to Maaya’s calligraphy. However, starting with a consciousness of characters and gaining inspiration, he then transcends the confines of words to express what he believes to be himself. It’s akin to free verse haiku. First, there’s an awareness of form, but then, emphasis is placed on emotions that cannot be confined by it.

“How wonderful it would be if we could laugh and forgive each other simply because we are all human.”

This is a phrase Maaya encountered in his teens, published in a calligraphy magazine at the time. In recent years, Maaya has battled a serious illness. Gratitude for life is also one of the factors that make his works shine. Deprivation becomes the greatest vitality in art expression, but it is precisely because he has been tormented by dualities more than anyone else that his creations embody the harmony of Yin and Yang and a warm perspective towards “harmony.”