Contemporary Fine Art Photography

What I paint is the energy of the banyan tree - known as “Gajumaru” in Japanese.

Electricity is invisible to our eyes, but it plays an important role in our lives.
You can't see radio waves, but if you have a smartphone, you can connect with people all over the world. I draw such an invisible energy that is indispensable to life.

I grew up with Gajumaru. I was born in Tokunoshima, a small island between Okinawa and Kagoshima. Gajumaru grew all around our house, at my school, and throughout our island, watching over and protecting us.

Gajumaru never say anything, but no matter how difficult it is on our rainy days, or how painful it is on our windy and stormy days, they live on, silently, solidly, without complaint. Gajumaru’s exceeding 100 years in age are commonly found near schools on our island. We cherish them as dragons, watching over the children. There is a Gajumaru over 300 years old on Tokunoshima. When you look at it, you can sense that it is overflowing in abundant energy. If you touch this Gajumaru, it will seem as though you are wrapped in something great and wonderful. It is enough to bring you to tears. It is said that the average life expectancy of a human being may become as long as 100 years, but Gajumaru live much longer than humans - long enough to have witnessed human evolution itself.

When I was a child, I was taught that a spirit named “Kenmun” lives inside our Gajumaru. If you did wrong to anyone, Kenmun would hurt you in return. When I came home alone late at night, I was scared of Kenmun, so I ran whenever passing in front of a Gajumaru. On the other hand, we were also taught that if you do something good for someone, Kenmun will make something happy occur for you, as a present.

When I draw, I don't make a preliminary sketch. For about a week, and sometimes up to a half year, I will become totally focused and concentrated on the painting, adding and changing, until I give shape to what I am feeling. I become submerged into the world of the painting when I draw a huge Gajumaru even taller than myself. After finishing, I am often shocked by the colors and shapes of the Gajumaru I have just created. I will see an unexpected and unforeseen world spreading throughout the formerly blank white canvas in front of which I previously stood. I experience something great, which physically moves my body to paint the Gajumaru.

I have exhibited my Gajumaru both in Japan and internationally. I have witnessed people breaking into tears when they view my paintings. It is neither a sense of sadness, nor fear, nor anger. Rather, it is an upswelling of the essential feeling, “I am alive, here and now!” which brings out the tears. I have often heard that wishes made in front of my paintings have become true for the viewer.

My paintings are not landscapes. I paint what cannot be seen, but which certainly exists: Energy. When I first started painting, I made many images of French landscapes and nature, like Monet and Van Gogh. However, I quickly came to the realization that someone like me, who had never lived in France, would never surpass the masters of the past.

I strive for the best in what I do, and I live to paint. That’s why I continue to paint Gajumaru. Even after my body ceases to exist, Gajumaru will live on. It is my sincere hope that my Gajumaru paintings will help guide humanity in a beneficial direction, will energize the hearts of people all over the world, and make people notice just how amazing and wonderful they themselves, as human beings, really are.

Taeko Sakujo

Artist

Osaka, Japan

Taeko Sakujo has a magical power.

By lightly holding another person’s hands on the palms of her hands while she looks at the person’s whole entity, she can see and feel the deep level of energy flowing through the person’s body. She will recall flushed memories of events from that person’s past and present, and can visualize what that person will experience in the near future.

Through this power, she has been able to provide advice to numerous executives concerning which paths to follow in the future.

It is probably fair to say that the most widespread value system in the world today is “science.”

With recent breakthrough developments in computers, it has been said that we will be able to unravel previously unexplainable phenomena and solve problems mankind could not previously address.

Science is a process which allows humans to study nature, derive its principles and laws, and apply them in our human lives.

In this sense, science is called natural science.

The study of natural sciences helped Copernicus move humanity from a Ptolemaic theory of our place in the universe into our current heliocentric understanding. It underpinned the Industrial Revolution, and has given us the gifts of nuclear power, computers, optical fibers, 5G, and artificial intelligence.

It goes without saying that in order to estimate the value of any corporation we need to take into account not only the amount of gross revenue but also some measure of consumer satisfaction.

We consider this “satisfaction” to be a category of social science, but perhaps it may be better to think in terms of a “super natural” concept.

If we go back to the birth of the universe, then it’s clear our life is a part of nature, thus the society developed by humans should be considered “super natural.”

At this moment we can’t forecast whether natural scientists will adapt such a “super natural” concept in the future, or not. However, it is extremely important that mankind admit that the universe and the earth contain principles and laws which cannot be derived as mere extensions of our currently known science.  

The science which we absolutely rely on today is nothing more than a small subset of reality which interprets only objects of perceivable nature.

I am an atheist, but it goes without saying that the Buddhist concept of “satori” or “enlightenment” is also an important law for humanity.

Natural science is not the totality of our existence, so it is extremely important that natural science and supernatural science be balanced.

Taeko Sakujo's “Gajumaru” declares the beginning of a social experiment for the whole world.

In order to publish her magical energetic art, we rented the more than 400 year old Shoryu-ji Temple in Osaka for two days, and photographed over 100 works, before carefully selecting the images which are now included in “Gajumaru”.

“Spirits of the Supernatural” proposes a humble attitude towards what is very difficult in today’s science: the concept that miracles can occur in nature, and that we humans also have possibilities to make miracles.

I sincerely hope that “Gajumaru” may help mankind connect the dots, confirm synchronicity, and move us in a brighter direction in the future.

Isao Murayama

CEO
Zeta Image, Inc.

Tokyo, Japan