All Categories - Carving The Divine
October 5, 2018
The “hollowing” of a statue carved with the yosegi-zukuri technique presented opportunities for...
September 7, 2018
One of the more curiously sculpted features of a meditating Buddha is the portrayal of connected,...
August 24, 2018
One of the primary messages that the documentary Carving The Divine brings to our awareness is...
August 3, 2018
Butsuzo, Japanese sculptural depictions of Buddhist deities, can be found throughout the nation...
July 20, 2018
In the early periods of Japanese art history, eyes were simply carved into the wood (and then...
July 6, 2018
As one who has worked with a mallet and chisel, the subject of any artwork’s attribution has...
June 30, 2018
In my fourth blog, “Woodcarving Techniques for Scale,” the basic history and major techniques of...
June 22, 2018
The reception of the Todaiji’s twin guardian Kongōrikishi in 1203 was overwhelming (see previous...
June 15, 2018
After the Genpai wars (1185), the Nara-based Keiha Busshi knew big sculpting commissions were...
June 8, 2018
As we discussed in the last writing, Japan’s political separation from T’ang China ushered in...
Buddhist sculpture is a widely recognized art form that hails from many parts of Asia over a wide...
May 25, 2018
Although a common medium since Japan’s earliest days of Buddhism, it was around the mid-Heian...
May 18, 2018
When admiring Butsuzō in a temple, shrine or museum, you may see statues that have not been...
May 11, 2018
I am often asked to explain the word Butsuzō. There are a couple of ways to address this question...
May 5, 2018
Call me an overgrown kid, but I’ve always loved figures. From the earliest age, my action figures...