Congratulatory Greeting for the Artist
I offer Ms. SenrinYamagishi my congratulations for holding this solo exhibition of her paintings in New York City. She often visits our Samukawa Shrine to take Shinto prayer with her parents since childhood and has overcome many different kinds of hardships under the protection of our deities, Samukawa-Daimyojin’s great virtue of Happoyoke, the worship to avert any evils from every direction.
I still remember how surprised I was to hear about this from her, even though it might just be coincidence, but then I realized that it must be our deity’s sophisticated generosity.
After that, I have visited several other exhibitions and asked her to commission paintings. The “autumnal tints” and “cherry blossoms” in her artworks are represented as the symbol of seasonal beauty in Japan, and it also heals visitor’s minds in our shrine.
We Shinto people generally respect the Japanese ancient sprit, “Keiko Shokon” as one of the most important concepts. The meaning is “meditating upon antiquity and comparing the present with antiquity”, and this idiom is quoted from “Kojiki”, the records of ancient matters. Whenever appreciating her paintings, I strongly feel the connection between her artwork and us, because it seems like her art follows the principal of this spirit.
So called “Shin-Rimpa” or “New Rimpa” style, is based on authentic tradition with profoundly deep and extraordinary expression even though it is essentially a modern style. I assume that her expression excels conspicuously among famous artists and it takes over the tradition from past to present and then the future.
I appreciate this connection between Ms. Senrin and our deities and wish her to carry forward the Japanese traditional culture and identity all over the world through her artworks. I pray for her ever greater success in the future.
Rev. Yasunori Tone
Chief Priest of Samukawa Shrine