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GRAINS OF RICE

16" X 20" © virginia huber, 2004.

Images of our trip pop into my head and appear in my sketch book. For the most part, they portray what was so, but not visible to the naked eye. Other times, they portray moments when the camera wasn't available. For instance, there was no photo of myself successfully capturing a few grains of rice with chopsticks. So for this triumphant moment, I had to sketch from memory.

MISO SOUP

16" X 20" © virginia huber, 2004.

I learned to love miso soup on my own here in Wisconsin.
Cookbooks had recipes for it.
Preparation takes a certain amount of time.
Conventional wisdom says miso soup
is
"soothing,"
"revitalizing,"
"balancing,"
"warming,"
"centering."
I read this some years ago and that was enough for me.
If taste had a tone, the taste of miso soup would be lower down and mellow - with a resonance.
The taste is paradoxically delicate and weighty, like the Earth.

ARTIST STATEMENT

20' x 16" © virginia huber, 2004.

Most exhibition hosts ask participating artists to write a few words about their artistic values and processes. This information is generally referred to as an "artist statement." Artist statements are difficult to write. How do you describe a non-verbal process in words? I worked hard on my statement and sent it off to our Saitama hosts. At the exhibition, I noticed visitors took the time to read my painfully arrived at artist statement. In this sketch, I recorded the moment that was memorable to me personally, but of course visitors to the exhibition read all of our statements.

ARTIST DEMO

16" x 20" © virginia huber, 2004.

A rousing bunch of the American artists demonstrated wherever we could find a spot in the huge exhibition area of the Saitama Museum of Modern Art. Visitors wandered from demonstration to demonstration, tip toeing and stretching to see what was going on. My demonstration was in watercolor. I used as subject matter the sketch "Three Children" from my business card - an image of a young mother who is no more than a child herself. Her older daughter is beside her and her baby is in her arms. I was fascinated by the questions people asked and the clarity of their English to express their reactions. A translator stood by me to convey my ideas to the visitors.