GOHEI / Sacred Form - A series of paintings and works on paper inspired by traditional art forms of Japan.

Gohei, or paper streamers folded in zigzags and hung from rope at sacred sites in Japan, are seen at the entrance of every Shinto shrine, and sometimes around a special tree or rock. In Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, all of nature is seen to be sacred, and therefore honored in this way.

Gohei are also believed to be the origin of origami, the traditional Japanese art form of folding paper. I used the rice paper from a journal I kept while traveling in Japan to fold into these forms. Sometimes I have preserved scraps of writing, often I have painted them. Folding the paper, remembering the days in Japan lent a special kind of consciousness and a sense of ritual to making the work. The scroll form of the paintings echoes traditional scroll paintings in Chinese and Japanese culture.