Saturday, July 16 2022, members of the All Beings Zen Sangha (ABZS) in Washington, DC and fellow Branching Streams sangha Richmond Zen gathered to view a museum exhibition, Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medieval Japan, at the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Asian Art.
The spark for this gathering was the involvement of ABZS’ guiding teacher, Reverend Inryū Bobbi Poncé-Barger, who provided commentary for the museum notes on some of the objects in the exhibition.
The majority of the exhibition consists of monochrome screens, landscape paintings, and portraits created by Zen monastics during Japan’s medieval period (ca. 1200–1600). It also contained several ceramic objects, most of which were related to chadō (the way of tea).
On entering a room filled with enormous screens, one is struck by the lighting – dim and diffuse, which allows us to see the artwork the same way it was seen when it was created, as if the pieces were lit only by indirect sunlight or candles.
The screens and portraits teemed with minute detail and at the same time boasted large areas of open space. Brushwork in some paintings was precise and heavy, and in others it was feathery and abstract. In a painting of an orchid, a third of the composition was reserved for the upper extremities of two thin, grass-like leaves to reach up, up, into the lower part of a white expanse.
The areas of open space in these compositions was deceptive. Rather than being unpainted, empty areas, the space usually consisted of a subtly worked wash constructed with many brushstrokes to create subtle shading. The empty space was full and purposeful. —EiShin Mike Barreda, All Beings Zen Sangha Member
It was a real pleasure getting to know these folks and learning a bit about how their sangha operates. In fact, the mood was so pleasant that some of us lingered into the summer afternoon, connecting with small talk, before returning to the gallery to see objects we had missed.—Suzanne Ehrenhalt, All Beings Zen Sangha memberPh
I loved the opportunity to bring together two sanghas and share our enthusiasm and interest in Zen arts. Richmond Zen looks forward to doing more together with All Beings! —Eiden Kevin Heffernan, Resident Priest for Ekoji Richmond Zen Sangha.