member of:Observers of the Interdependence of Domestic Objects and Their Influence on Everyday Life


This group has been active for a long time and has already made some remarkable assertions which render life simpler from the practical point of view. For example, I move a pot of green color five centimeters to the right, I push in the thumbtack beside the comb and if Mr. A (another adherent like me) at this moment puts his volume about bee-keeping beside a pattern for cutting out vests, I am sure to meet on the sidewalk of the avenida Madero a woman who intrigues me and whose origin and address I never could have known...
--Remedios Varo


(Slideshow is of Artwork by Remedios Varo)
By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.
--Franz Kafka

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Maki Horanai: Creating the Universe


by Maki Horanai

Ocean whispers.
I am hopping on that sound.

Feeling the tickle of the roots from my toes,
I am departing from the ground.

My bird soul is gently lifting off,
Simply defying gravity.

Brushing the Moon and the deep Sky,
Into the Gold background I fly.

                   --Vesna

by Maki Horanai


Maki Horanai's paintings are moments in which quietly-focused beings create the details of the world we find most startling or inspiring.
Above, the figure pulls the sky over the burning gold fire of the firmament, perhaps to 'ease' the burn of the sun and stars, protect our fragile flesh, allow us life. The sky crosses outside of the canvas, reminding us that this is not a painting, it's an act, a moment of magic which directly affects us. Birds cross from the sky, across the gold and into the red (pulse of life) of the dress, their flight covering layers of being... It is an act of love, a defiance of gravity.

Maki Horanai: Creation of the Forest Song
In Creation of the Forest Song, the mother and child have created a nest, with an egg or a piece of land/rock and a small sapling, to give the bird a place to safely create its song. At the table are other little bits of creation. The child (with a 'child-like' eye, curiosity, and faith) is the one with angelic wings, the one who has produced the safe place for the little bird.


"Carried Away," by Maki Horanai

A figure reads a book, the ideas working through his mind and body via the pedals and wings and pumping upwards, again into a billowing cloud of golden flame (the fires of creation), to make a small community, a place of human life, trees, mountains, a lake. The ideas grow wings, become alive, real...

by Maki Horanai
And another such beings rides a horse, carrying a small rock or egg with life creeping out of it in the form of a small, glowing seedling. Civilization seems to grow only as a development from this creative impulse and focus and care; the horse itself is stone and yet the figure rides, and spanning out from the pair are cities, and three significant stars, like some cross between the 'Guiding Light' and the three wise men.


by Maki Horanai
by Maki Horanai
She creates the window frame and a square of blue sky for the bird out of endless space; on her back is a hand-wound gramophone to teach the music.

by Maki Horanai

by Maki Horanai
"My work has been strongly influenced by the nature of my childhood. I grew up in snowy villages along the sea coast in northern Japan. The severe power of the ocean, together with the pure, clean, quiet atmosphere are deeply embedded in my memory. When I was sleeping, the sound of waves was always in my ears. Away from city lights and tall buildings, the stars and moon were always present overhead at night.
I adore the gold background of old paintings of both the east and west, and, as I started to paint, elements of this style surfaced in my work. The works of Giotto (14th century), Fra Angelico (15th century) and Kano Eitoku (16th century) have particularly impressed me.
I’m not consciously aware of the meaning of my paintings as I work. If I know it, then probably I can’t paint. Towards the end of each painting, stories make themselves known to me."--Maki Horanai

by Maki Horanai

by Maki Horanai
The text: "Some years ago I was standing on the shore, watching the crescent moon in the sky. It was very close to the ocean, almost touching it...I was wondering what kind of sound the moon makes as it descends into the sea." The painting on the left is "The mind in the heart of the moon," the center painting is "on the path down to the sea", and the third is "spinning slowly."

by Maki Horanai
"Nurturing Music" by Maki Horanai

"Unfinished Constellation" by Maki Horanai
She now lives in Queensland, where she holds yearly exhibitions at Marks and Gardner Gallery on Tamborine Mountain.
"Moments of Connection with the Universe," by Maki Horanai
by Maki Horanai
Discovered Via Birdy, who also is offering for the second year the Snail Circle--this was really wonderful the first year and I encourage *everyone* to join: you are paired with one other snail-mailer per month, to whom you send a hand-written letter which includes (along with whatever else you write) a passage from a book by which you are currently being blown away. From this, you are certain to be exposed to many new books you otherwise would have missed, and many new friends all over the world. Join us by dropping her an email.

9 comments:

  1. Or you may find yourself tantalized by books you can not find, and must beg the Gods to bring you succor in the form of an ILL. ~laughing~
    I have a print of tambourine Mountain on a card some where, it is a joyful piece.

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    1. HA! enjoy :)
      i still plan to write, but wanted to mention that the locksmith book is available as a used book (only used, i think) on amazon.... :)

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  2. Maki's art is so lovely and sophisticated and your extraordinary attention to details Zoe makes us see deeper and discover new worlds. Thank you for inviting me to part of this wonderful exhibit my dear Muse.

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    1. you make the magic with your poetry! i thought it was a perfect pairing :) thank you for joining me!!

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  3. Lovely words from Vesna, I think they echo the wishfulness sighs in the believability that such places do exist ... I think Maki's art proves it*!*

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    1. yes, she creates them, even, doesn't she.?..and vesna is excellent at turning an intense emotion into a few words...

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  4. Vesna's poem is so beautiful and inspring. "She is excellent at turning an intense emotion into a few words." I couldn't have said it better myself!
    Oh I didn't know Maki Horanai's paintings. I also adore the gold background of old paintings ―particularly love the second one. Hmmm. Somewhere in the universe, maybe in other dimensions I believe that such places do exist.

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  5. Thank you so much for bringing Maki's work to the view of others. I too write poetry - haiku - inspired by her work and we have self published more than 10 books of our combined work. Those who can visit our studio/gallery on Tamborine Mountain outside of Brisbane will be welcomed. Maki will be having an exhibition up on the mountain opening on July 11, 2014 at Marks & Gardner's Secret Garden Gallery. Visit us, visit the exhibition. To see Maki's paintings up close is an unforgettable experience.

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    1. her work is really beautiful--i would love to see it in person, unfortunately i'm on the wrong side of the world :)
      but thank you for posting here about the show!!

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