For decades, Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows has served as a philosophical guide for Ibe, whose practice centers on the expressive and sculptural possibilities of washi. In this new body of work, the artist returns to what she describes as her “starting point” — both conceptually and formally — revisiting the square compositions through which she first developed the groundbreaking “Ibe Method.” Combining years of technical refinement with renewed experimentation, the exhibition reflects what the artist considers both a beginning and a pinnacle.
Ibe works with recycled gampi washi paper that is over a century old — an extraordinarily rare material prized for its strength and delicate beauty. Because gampi grows only in the wild and cannot be cultivated, it has become increasingly difficult to source. Ibe has used recycled gampi throughout her career, but the supply she now holds is likely the last she will ever have, making its inclusion in this series especially meaningful.
The exhibition also reflects Ibe’s long-standing engagement with Zen philosophy. Beginning with square-on-square compositions, the works gradually evolve toward circular forms and the concept of the ENSO — the Zen circle symbolizing emptiness, completeness, and the universe. She writes in her artist statement, “When two works are placed facing each other with space in between, that empty space becomes a field that stimulates imagination, and the two works begin to connect, forming a single world.”