Kumono Shingou #0, 2023
Ink on paper
16 1/2 x 9 1/4 in / 42 x 23.6 cm


Kumono Shingou #0 is the singular plotter artifact from Zancan’s generative series released in Tokyo with Bright Moments. The composition is organized around three abstract shapes and four iconic tree species from Japan, emphasizing the interconnection of nature and civilization. The artist describes the series in more detail, writing,
“‘Kumono Shingou’ means ‘Cloud Signals’ and is the title of a poem by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. He was an agronomist dedicated to the social cause at a time when successive natural disasters struck the country while modernity transformed it at a dizzying pace.
It is with a sense of grace that I receive this gift of a title for my work, which was given to me by Kazumasa Teshigawara (Qubibi). It is a small door that has opened for me an element of Japanese culture. This is what Qubibi does: he creates small doors and opens them slightly to allow us to glimpse, with
kindness and simplicity, but also in enigmas, a little light and soul, a fleeting spark, a reflection of what, hidden, is the very treasure of humanity.
” The work serves an homage to Japanese culture and the city of Tokyo.