Hello garlley Dorei I am Mihotei. Casual visit to the gallery! This is the second in a series of visits to the Hua Xue exhibition 'Touring the House' of calligraphy.

So today (7th) we are again at Niigata Eya ( http://niigata-eya.jp)!

Note: The 'Touring Home' Hua Xue exhibition runs until 10 June.

(Hua Xue's website http://www.kasetsu.info )

When you walk from the Furumachi campus of the International University of Information and Communication, you can see Niigata Eya like this.

-Review of the 'Touring Home' Hua Xue exhibition.

Click here for the article on Hua Xue Exhibition 1 URL: 'gallery Dorei What is "Sho"! ~ Hua Xue Exhibition 1~"

• Exhibition of calligraphy with the word 'home' written on it.
• Interesting way of displaying the exhibition.
• The way the exhibition is presented changes every day.

Let's go in then! Hello!"

Wa!

More and more books on 'home' are being written!

Moreover, you can freely pass between 'houses', so it feels like exploring an unfamiliar residential area.

(Well, I was in the infield a while ago, vine-sans-po http://tsuruhashibooks.publishers.fm/issue/873/についていったせいもあるかもだけど...)

Wa!足元！

Calligraphy" on plastic bags! I have never seen such an exhibition! And it's written on black paper, so you can't really see the 'house'...?

Now here's a question. What kind of 'house' do you think this 'house' is?

(I'm thinking about it too)

At first I thought it might be a flat, but then I saw a black 'house' in a transparent plastic bag, which is a bit weak! I think a business hotel is also a possibility, because of the book. I think it could be a business hotel, like a place for tired office workers to stay temporarily on a business trip...

What do you all think?

Now, it was this 'house' that I was most interested in.

It was on display in the middle of the room... but the paper around the letters of the house is somehow a different colour? Maybe it's freshly written?

What?

But then, to my surprise, Hua Xue herself was in the gallery...!

(Apologies for the poor photo. She is actually a more beautiful person...)

This is the best part of the gallery. You can meet and talk directly with the creators! ...but it can be nerve-wracking. At times like this, you can ask a simple question or say something simple like, "This is my favourite one", and you will hear interesting stories!

So I asked about that calligraphy with different colours around the ink.

Mihotei (Mi): Hello, why is the colour of the paper different here in this book? Is it freshly written?

Hua Xue (Hua): Actually, this is written in ink mixed with oil. When you hold it up to the sunlight, it becomes transparent.

It's true! I didn't realise it because I was only looking at it from the back...

Mi: You use oil? I've never heard of it before! That's interesting.

Hana: With oil, you can keep the progress of the production. I can see where I lost my way, even after the work was written. I wanted to show that.

Hmmm. 'It's kind of a different colour. I only thought, 'Oh, yes, it's transparent from here', so I look at it and kind of imagine how Hua Xue wrote this 'house'.

I used to think that 'calligraphy' was only the ink part where the brush went through (and I remember my calligraphy time), so I thought, "Actually, there are other traces of brushstrokes stored in the paper. So the oil is showing me that".

Oooh, I thought.

...but what kind of 'house' is this 'house'? What do you all think?

I will be honest. I stood in front of this piece and spread my wings of imagination (from a TV series), but I couldn't capture it. I wondered what kind of 'house' it would be like, and then the 'house' written by Hua Xue would change shape and form. Mystery.

Mi: I can't imagine what exactly this 'house' is like, only this 'house'. I could do the others... but I can't capture it somehow.

Hana: I see! I'm glad to hear that. It's a compliment.

It was something I said casually, but Huayue-san seemed a little happy. I was somewhat embarrassed. (In spite of my appearance, I am a shy person!)

For me, 'calligraphy' was = calligraphy time at primary school. Until now. I would write according to the model, and then it would be pinned to the wall with drawing pins. If I wrote well, the teacher would praise me and I would be happy, but...

That's why I was so shocked when I saw Hua Xue's exhibition "Touring the House". I was convinced in a simple way that Chinese characters were born from pictures, and that my imagination was expanding.

And what's more, this time you can see the book from the back: ⁉︎ I've seen it before: ⁉︎

If you're interested, why not explore the gallery, skimming between the 'houses' created by Hua Xue?

Well! The next and final part of the 'Touring the House' Hua Xue exhibition report! The last one will be Hua Xue's workshop on the 8th. What will the children be doing?

Expectations!

Gallery information.

Niigata Picture Gallery

• Address: 1864, Kamiokawa-mae-dori 10-bancho, Chuo-ku, Niigata City.
• TEL & FAX: 025-222-6888
• Official website: http://niigata-eya.jp/