Inkslinger art + DESIGN
Welcome to Inkslinger Art, the home of vertical alphabet brush calligraphy, made in Japan and exported back to Australia. Japanese tend to enjoy traditional shodou from a culturally rich, sensual/emotional aspect, that is, they respond to the patterns of black ink on paper. I try to create an opportunity for everybody to appreciate shodou just as the Japanese or Chinese do when it's written in their language. "By disguising Western ideas in Japanese form, and re-presenting Japanese tradition with a foreign twist, I hope to encourage people of different backgrounds to appreciate each other's culture. By writing in English, French or Latin, I can firstly challenge the viewer to follow the brushstrokes, then to understand the words, and finally to look further for the conceptual essence of the work." Merissa "Inkslinger" Walker
About the Artist
Australian-born artist Merissa “Inkslinger” Walker lived in Tokyo, Japan from 1991 to 1998. While there, she began studying Japanese calligraphy, or Shodou. After the first year, it became evident that she would never master the thousands of written characters, so in 1992, she threw away the book and began writing in English.
“I was still practicing all the traditional brush strokes and trying to absorb style tips from the Great Chinese Masters, but my passion lay in the exploration of what I termed 'cultural cross-dressing'. At my first solo exhibition in 1993, a few Japanese marveled their way through the gallery, without realizing everything was in English. They had seen abstract Shodou, and assumed it was simply too arty to comprehend - a common experience at contemporary calligraphy shows - and the only experience most Westerners have of Asian calligraphy. I realized then that my creative task was to present alphabet to English speakers, so they could take on the same deciphering challenge that Asian audiences enjoy when viewing calligraphy in their own language.”
After 11 solo and 12 group exhibitions in Tokyo, Kyoto, Odawara, Osaka, Seoul, Los Angeles, Sydney, New York and Taipei, Inkslinger original calligraphies, scrolls, prints and multi-media artworks can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the world. The studio is now located in Sydney, Australia.
“I was still practicing all the traditional brush strokes and trying to absorb style tips from the Great Chinese Masters, but my passion lay in the exploration of what I termed 'cultural cross-dressing'. At my first solo exhibition in 1993, a few Japanese marveled their way through the gallery, without realizing everything was in English. They had seen abstract Shodou, and assumed it was simply too arty to comprehend - a common experience at contemporary calligraphy shows - and the only experience most Westerners have of Asian calligraphy. I realized then that my creative task was to present alphabet to English speakers, so they could take on the same deciphering challenge that Asian audiences enjoy when viewing calligraphy in their own language.”
After 11 solo and 12 group exhibitions in Tokyo, Kyoto, Odawara, Osaka, Seoul, Los Angeles, Sydney, New York and Taipei, Inkslinger original calligraphies, scrolls, prints and multi-media artworks can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the world. The studio is now located in Sydney, Australia.
Style Script
(Left) Ou-yang Hsün (577-641, T'ang dynasty) [A passage from] Thousand Characters in Current Script. Ink on paper.
(Right) Merissa Walker, 1997. "Proper words in proper places make the true definition of style." Ink on Washi. Quote by Jonathan Swift.
A slender tipped, stiff brush and trailing away endings to each stroke give this work an unorthodox, fanciful, yet elegant appearance. The text makes a comment on 'style', which the writer is obviously trying slavishly to evoke, thereby creating a piece which would make any Chinese Master turn in his grave.
Uncouth Script
(Left) The mad old monk, Fu Shan (1607-1684) Ming/Ch'ing. [Excerpt from] Poem by Tu Fu. Current script in a style verging on uncouthness. "Rather than clever, gracious, deft and proper," he wrote, "I prefer being awkward, unpleasing, disconnected, but true to myself."
(Right) Merissa Walker, 2000. "Instead of having the rug pulled out from under your feet, learn to dance on the shifting carpet!" Ink on Washi.
Cursive Script
(Left) Hui-tsung, eighth Northern Sung emperor (reigned 1100-1125). [First section of] The Thousand Characters in Cursive Script. Ink on yellow silk. This piece shows how the cursive script evolved towards greater freedom, and is beginning to show the qualities of pictorial brushstrokes.
(Right) Merissa Walker, 1998 “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.” Ink on Washi.
Skimpy Cursive
(Left) Yü Yu-jen (1878-1964) [Part of the] Inscription commemorating the opening of the National Museum of History. Taipei, 1962. Simplicity and freedom in the cursive script by a contemporary master.
(Right) Merissa Walker, 2001. "Thank heaven the sun has gone in and I don't have to go out and enjoy it." Ink on Washi. If I go much more skimpy it gets difficult to decipher.
(Right) Merissa Walker, 2001. "Thank heaven the sun has gone in and I don't have to go out and enjoy it." Ink on Washi. If I go much more skimpy it gets difficult to decipher.
Inkslinger Art & Design: Authenticity & Copyright
Artwork samples
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Sho Books
BRUSH WRITING was the first book I bought, here are some others as well:
Ryokushu Kuiseko: Brush Writing - Calligraphy techniques for beginners, Kodansha
William Reed: Shodou - The art of coordinating mind, body and brush, Japan Publications
Yiguo Zhang: Brushed Voices - Calligraphy in contemporary China, Colombia University
Jean Francois Billeter: The Chinese art of writing, Rizzoli, New York
Chiang Yee: Chinese Calligraphy, Graham Brash, Singapore
Kogetsu Tani: Zen Word Zen calligraphy, Shambhala Publications
William Reed: Shodou - The art of coordinating mind, body and brush, Japan Publications
Yiguo Zhang: Brushed Voices - Calligraphy in contemporary China, Colombia University
Jean Francois Billeter: The Chinese art of writing, Rizzoli, New York
Chiang Yee: Chinese Calligraphy, Graham Brash, Singapore
Kogetsu Tani: Zen Word Zen calligraphy, Shambhala Publications