Born to a monk who ran a 400-year-old temple of the Tendai Esoteric Buddhism sect, and having himself become a monk at the age of six, Kondo Komei is an artist who made fantastic paintings deeply rooted in Buddhist principles and teachings.
In 1976, he moved his studio from Suginami Ward in Tokyo, to Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, where he continued to work until his death. There is a weeping cherry tree that is over 300 years old, located on the grounds of the Chokozan Shotaiji Temple near where the studio was. From its hilltop perch, the tree in full bloom enveloped its surroundings as though possessed of a powerful spiritual energy, mesmerizing the artist. "When I put my hands together and turn around, I can see a quiet townscape by the sea with a mass of white light in the distance, like paradise," he wrote. He revisited this fantastical motif many times, and this is one such work.
(YATSUYANAGI Sae)
Born to a monk who ran a 400-year-old temple of the Tendai Esoteric Buddhism sect, and having himself become a monk at the age of six, Kondo Komei is an artist who made fantastic paintings deeply rooted in Buddhist principles and teachings.
In 1976, he moved his studio from Suginami Ward in Tokyo, to Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, where he continued to work until his death. There is a weeping cherry tree that is over 300 years old, located on the grounds of the Chokozan Shotaiji Temple near where the studio was. From its hilltop perch, the tree in full bloom enveloped its surroundings as though possessed of a powerful spiritual energy, mesmerizing the artist. "When I put my hands together and turn around, I can see a quiet townscape by the sea with a mass of white light in the distance, like paradise," he wrote. He revisited this fantastical motif many times, and this is one such work.
(YATSUYANAGI Sae)