Monday, May 27, 2013

Drawn to Butoh

Arachnid Asana


Born Again

Cabbage Ritual

Moving On
For a drawing to have Butoh spirit there has to be a visceral connection between the artist, the model, and the gesture.  This is not merely a pleasing pose that will make a nice drawing, it is a connection that is felt in the body.  This pose, this gesture, this model has moved you, has changed the way you breathe, made you sigh or moan in pleasure.

A drawing with Butoh spirit captures authentic gestures, the untold stories of the soul.  Not stories we want others to hear, not the stories we want to believe about ourselves, not the stories we have tricked ourselves into believing, but the real stories that tell what lays deep within us. 

A drawing with butoh spirit should transform the life of the subject/model, the artist and eventually the audience.  The process of making these drawings and viewing them should unveil deep secrets and shake one’s belief structure.  Butoh drawings elicit thoughts that we would rather have kept subdued, but none the less need to be confronted.  Butoh drawings are felt in the body; they alter the breath, cause queasiness in the belly.  There is something about a Butoh drawing that makes one avert their eyes for a moment, gathering the courage to look a second time.