SAKUHO

Sakuho ITO

伊藤咲穂（1989年島根県生まれ）は、現在山梨を拠点に活動している。
彼女は和紙による大規模な絵画、滞在制作と神社への奉納活動をメインとする、日本の伝統と霊性を探求するアーティストである。武蔵野美術大学でテキスタイル、石州和紙工房(島根)で和紙を学び、’錆和紙’を発明。作品には、金属、土、砂鉄、岩絵具、顔料を和紙に漉き込む独自の制作手法を用い、近年は日本画の伝統的な技法・色彩も取り入れている。


彼女は古神道の思想を体現しており、水を神聖なものとして取り扱う。
作品を仕上げる際、風土と身体の関わりとして’落水’(和紙の伝統技法)を行い、水の痕跡を作品に残す。
幼少期からの死生観である「梵我一如」を基に、自身の芸術行為を『礼拝』と捉え、関わる地の風土に宿る「日本的霊性」をテーマに、その”見えないもの”の抽象的な発現と鎮魂を試みている。


2023年には出雲大社へ《命の礼拝》を奉納、2024年にはホテルJANU TOKYOに《青の礼拝》シリーズが常設展示されるなど、国内外で活動の幅を広げている。

Sakuho Ito (b. 1989, Shimane, Japan) is currently based in Yamanashi, Japan.
She is an artist who explores Japanese tradition and spirituality through large-scale paintings made with washi, as well as through residency-based production and dedication of works to Shinto shrines. She studied textiles at Musashino Art University and learned traditional washi-making at the Sekishu Washi Studio in Shimane, where she also invented her original material called Sabi Washi (rust-dyed washi).

Her works are created using a unique hand-papermaking technique that incorporates metal, earth, iron sand, mineral pigments, and other natural materials into the paper itself.
In recent years, she has also begun incorporating traditional Nihonga techniques and color palettes.Ito embodies the philosophy of ancient Shinto, treating water as sacred. As a way to connect her body with the local climate and landscape, she performs Rakusui (falling water), a traditional papermaking technique, in the final stage of her process to leave the trace of water on the surface.Grounded in her lifelong view of life and death, based on the concept of bon-gā-ichinyo (the unity of self and the universe), she regards her artistic practice as an act of worship.
Her work seeks to express and console the “invisible” spirituality that resides in the landscape and traditions of each place she engages with.

In 2023, she dedicated Worship of Life to Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine, and in 2024, her Worship in Blue series became part of the permanent display at the hotel JANU TOKYO, as her artistic presence continues to grow both in Japan and internationally.

[ 表現と思想について ]

私の作品は、日本の伝統素材である和紙を支持体とし、独自の漉き方で土や金属、岩絵具を混ぜ込む技法で制作しています。
幼少期に自然の中で体感した「生命の循環」と「死生観」をテーマに、大学時代に開発した「錆和紙」を用いて “土へ還る”という普遍的概念の表現を始めとし、日本の精神性における「梵我一如」の思想を探求しています。

制作行為の中心にあるのは「素材の霊性」です。和紙、岩絵具、土、砂鉄といった自然素材は、日本の伝統的な文化や精神性を体現するだけでなく、私の身体感覚と調和する神聖さを持っており、地元島根の石州和紙工房にて職人の元で修行した際には、和紙という素材の持つ力と、鈴木大拙が言及した「日本的霊性」を象徴的に宿していることを体感しました。

もう一つ中核を為す要素は、日本的「営み」です。これも修行中に深く共感したもので、それは単なる作業ではなく、日本文化に根付く五穀豊穣と恵みの献上の精神であり、近年、老師との出会いを経て、それが「神道」の思想と深く結びついていることに気づきました。
これに倣い自分を形成した島根に感謝の意を献上すべく、2023年には出雲大社へ作品《命の礼拝》を奉納。
以降、地と人を結ぶ活動を展開し、滞在制作を通じてその土地の土や文化=霊性を作品に取り入れ、天・地・人の調和を表現しています。

私にとっての「営み」は芸術行為 =『礼拝』であり、霊性という “姿なきもの” の抽象的発現を試みています。
和紙をカミ(神)、岩絵具を磐座、清めの水と氏神の土をアメツチ( 天地を結ぶもの )として備え、 “姿なきもの” を具現化し、これを 神籬( ひもろぎ = 臨時に神を迎えるための依り代 )として納める。これらの行為全てをもって『礼拝』としています。

また、私はこの芸術行為を日本美術史の文脈に位置づけ、西洋美術との対話を試みています。カジミール・マレーヴィチやアド・ラインハートなどの抽象表現主義者たちが「禅」を通じて到達した「無」や「無限」の概念と共鳴しつつ、思想の実践を神道として捉え、現代における神道美術の可能性を探求し、その歴史に寄与したいと考えています。

[ Expression and Philosophy ]
I use washi, a traditional Japanese handmade paper, as the support for my work. I create my pieces by employing a unique papermaking technique that incorporates earth, metal, and mineral pigments into the paper. Inspired by my childhood experiences in nature, I explore the themes of the “cycle of life” and “views on life and death.” My artistic inquiry began with the expression of the universal concept of “returning to the earth” through the develop- ment of my original Rust Washi technique during my university years, and has since evolved into an exploration of the Japanese spiritual notion of Bonga Ichinyo (the oneness of the universe and the self).

At the core of my practice is the reisei (spirituality) of materials. Natural elements such as washi, mineral pigments, earth, and iron sand not only embody the traditions and spirituality of Japan but also possess a sacred resonance that aligns with my own bodily perception. During my training with artisans at the Sekishu Washi studio in my hometown of Shimane, I came to understand that washi, as a material, carries an inherent power̶one that symbolizes what D.T. Suzuki referred to as Japanese Spirituality (Nihonteki Reisei).

Another fundamental element of my work is the concept of Japanese work (itonami). During my training, I deeply resonated with the idea that this is not merely a task, but an act rooted in Japan’s cultural traditions̶one that embodies the spirit of gokoku houjou (ritual offerings of agricultural bounty and gratitude). In recent years, through my encounter with a master (Roshi), I realized that this practice is profoundly connected to Shinto philosophy. To honor this realization and express my gratitude to the land that shaped me, I dedicated my work Worship of Life (Inochi no Reihai) to Izumo Taisha in 2023. Since then, I have continued to engage in site-specific projects, incor- porating the soil, culture, and spirituality of each location into my work, expressing the harmony between heaven, earth, and humanity (ten-chi-jin).

For me, artistic practice itself is reihai (worship), an attempt to give abstract form to the unseen essence of spirituality. In my work, washi represents kami (deity), mineral pigments serve as iwakura (sacred stones), and purified water and the soil of the ujigami (guardian deity of a land) are prepared as ametsuchi (the cosmic elements that connect heaven and earth). By materializing the unseen (sugata naki mono), I consecrate these works as himorogi (sacred enclosures for divine presence), transforming the act of creation into a form of worship.

I position this artistic practice within the framework of Japanese art history while engaging in a dialogue with Western art. Just as abstract expressionists such as Kazimir Malevich and Ad Reinhardt arrived at concepts of “nothingness” and “infinity” through Zen thought, I explore the realization of philosophy through the lens of Shinto. Through this process, I seek to investigate the possibilities of Shinto-inspired art in the contemporary context and contribute to its evolving historical discourse.