Bokusho and Boku Jazz with Ari Tomita

My boku jazz art emerged from my own personal experience, originally as an oil painter and through my study of classical brush writing for many years.

During these early years of study I became interested in jazz, especially the music of John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Chet Baker. These jazz masters inspired me on a very deep emotional level and their inspiration continues to infuse my art today.

In 1981, I move to Honolulu in order to explore my art and soon after I discovered Shiryu Morita in Kyoto who was creating a form of calligraphic brush art called Bokusho (ink image). Most of Bokusho artists created works based on Chinese characters, which were so impressionistic that the characters could no longer be made out. A few artists used the brush in a totally abstract way. 

The Bokusho calligraphic movement began in Japan just after WWII, co-founded by a few artists including Yuichi Inoue of Tokyo, and my mentor, internationally renowned Shiryu Morita of Kyoto, the co-founder of avant-garde calligraphy. Those Japanese artists, and American artists such as Mark Toby, Robert Motherwell, and Frantz Kline, mutually influenced each other.

In North America, I have continued experimenting in my art: Today I create abstract brush painting based on traditional Oriental brush structure and principles. I also incorporate Zen aethetics and spirituality and infuse my art with the spontaneity of jazz. Often I combine the Bokusho with other contemporary or non-traditional forms. This is what I call "Boku Jazz". This authentic abstract brush painting has been called a new contemporary international language.