SAKUHO

Sakuho ITO

伊藤咲穂は1989年に島根県で生まれ、2014年に武蔵野美術大学を卒業後、アート活動を開始。彼女は支持体として日本の文化遺産である和紙を用い、金属、土、岩絵具、顔料などを独自の漉き方で和紙に混ぜ込む手法を用いる。幼少期からの「死生観」を基に、伝統的「営み」と素材が持つ「日本的霊性」をテーマに、自身の芸術活動を『礼拝』と捉えながら神道的アプローチにより抽象的発現を試みている。2023年には出雲大社へ作品《命の礼拝》を奉納。2024年には東京・麻布台に新規開業したラグジュアリーホテルに《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 was born in 1989 in Shimane, Japan. After graduating from Musashino Art University in 2014, she began her artistic career. Using washi, a cultural heritage of Japan, as her primary medium, she incorporates metal, earth, mineral pigments, and other materials into the paper through a unique hand-papermaking process. Rooted in her lifelong “view of life and death,” her work explores the themes of traditional “worship(reihai)” and the “Japanese spirituality(Nihonteki Reisei)” inherent in natural materials. She approaches her art as an act of worship, drawing inspiration from Shinto philosophy to create abstract expressions. In 2023, her work “Worship of Life” was dedicated to Izumo Taisha. In 2024, her “Worship in Blue” series became part of the permanent collection at a newly opened luxury hotel in Azabudai, Tokyo, further expanding her presence both domestically 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.