Mushin [Quarantine series]
one stroke drawing
Mushin is a series of one stroke drawings that I started during the quarantine period. I did around 1,000 as part of my interim routine.
The word Mushin [無心] can be interpreted in many different ways—as free from mind-attachment, as ultra-instinct, as the empty consciousness within infinity. It can signify contemplating the boundless mind effortlessly, or syncing your heart to the endless universe; each of these interpretations or further ones could be possible.
As the pandemic spread, so did the cancellations. The lack of projects allowed me to regain my own time. We were strongly advised to stay home and this restriction gave rise to focus on things around me at the moment. Then I started a new creative practice.
There is no goal, no objective, no concepts, no planning. All I have is my pen, paper, and time.
It’s about the process, not the result.
There is a great moment when I get caught up in the rhythm and feel I have become the rhythm itself. But very often, a rational intention takes over my mind and then my point of focus fixates on the path rather than the tip of the brush and I return to a conscious reality.
When I'm at some spot on the paper, drawing, I don’t stop to think of the next step. It has to come from my intuition and hand together, otherwise I'm missing the present.
Any disturbance in concentration or breathing is reflected directly in every line made at that time. However, my hand doesn’t stop; the stroke progresses with the current of time. No matter what, it moves forward and never returns. I accept it all.
When I take the pen from paper, self-sustained figures emerge. Each continuous line is very different. I don’t know what makes them so different. I feel like I’m in the forest, the sea, or somewhere in abstract nature, where I see a variety of spirited entities that desire life.