The Art of Toshio Sekiji

When a San Francisco gallery declined to show Toshio Sekiji’s work because it was constructed largely of newspaper and newspaper changes color in time, he laughed and replied, “Of course! In 50 or 100 years, the paper will be far more beautiful.”

It is just about impossible to categorize Sekiji’s art. “Collage” is convenient, but hardly accurate. He works mainly in newspaper and natural Japanese lacquer, urushi. The newspaper is usually torn into strips, which are placed in a bowl, sprinkled with lacquer, and “tossed like a salad.” The strips are then “woven.”

But the weaving is hardly mechanical. There is no loom, no weft or warp. Each strip has its own statement, and each length of paper is placed where the artist feels it speaks most persuasively. A work is restructured over and over, each paper element is placed and replaced until Sekiji achieves the precise result desired.

The overall effect of Sekiji’s work is highly calligraphic. Random traces of lacquer complement the newsprint, giving the printed forms vivacity and unifying each composition. The artist uses newspapers from different countries, reflecting his strong interest in calligraphic form and a romantic facination with cultural expression.

Print and lacquer and woven form result in rhythmic almost musical compositions, lacquer-enhanced tapestries of almost-symbols, tapestries that vanish at the border of meaning yet constantly inform and nourish and beguile. Each composition changes aspect with distance, lighting, and even time of day and mood of viewer. Sekiji’s works seem to leap back and forth between postmodern and traditional categories, partaking of both without apology.