Zen Calligraphy 'Mu - Emptiness' by Nadja Van Ghelue

Nadja is one of those rare artists who knows the deeper connection between art and Self, and how to tap into higher states of creativity through meditation. This is of great inspiration and beautifully reflected in the interview and artwork of this Zen Calligraphy artist.

1. What inspired you to become an artist and choose Japanese calligraphy?

I think one is born an artist. It is a passion, a curiosity for life you need to follow; otherwise your heart gets sick. As an artist, you feel a deep urge to express the human experience, your unique individual understanding of life.

The decision to dedicate myself entirely to the traditional Way of Japanese calligraphy and painting came gradually, but there where two events that triggered it. One was a Zen Art exposition, where I saw for the first time the calligraphies and paintings of Japanese Zen masters. It is believed that through the contemplation of artworks of enlightened masters we can connect with our original awakened mind. I must have felt a certain glimpse of this mystery then.

The other one was my own experience with Zen calligraphy. I attended a workshop of Zen calligraphy, done in the way it was practiced in the Zen dojo of the late Japanese Zen master ?mori S?gen. I was immersed in a world of new values, one of them being the importance of training the Mind itself in artistic expression. In Zen calligraphy, Mind training comes first, second, technique. The Zen-calligraphy saying “When the mind is correct the brush is correct”, expresses this prevalence of the cultivation of Mind, the ultimate source where any artistic inspiration is born from. When the mind is calm you are capable of deepening your life and art. I felt that to make my art whole I had to explore this art tradition and take up meditation.

2. What do you experience in the creative process?

'Growing Steady' by Nadja Van Ghelue

I see art as an expansion of limited to unlimited, a vehicle from form towards formless.

Let’s take the painting of a flower in the spring as example. When painting a flower I could limit myself to the external form, reproduce its shape, colors, light and shades, and make a picture of what I see in front of me. But if I am only concerned with the external form of a flower I ignore its true nature; the magic of the blossoming itself, this explosion of life and joy in color and fragrance that fades away in a moment. My inspiration is this flower experience and in my painting I try to be truthful to this life spirit.

In Japanese calligraphy we find the same principle. If Japanese calligraphy were only a matter of shaping characters with different brush strokes and compose beautiful forms, I could as well do it mechanically. But the practice of Japanese calligraphy is more than the form of a Japanese character; its essence is the art of imbuing the brush with life and connecting with your Self.

3. What is the main message of your art?

Protecting life-nurturing wisdom.

Our Western civilization has become extremely complicated and our life experience is dominated by a continuous overexcitement of our senses. Straying away more and more from our awakened nature we inevitably end up in self destruction, aggression and unhappiness.

I envision art as a way back to simplicity, where one connects with genuine intuition, which leads to peace and love.

4. How is your art work related with meditation and what is the effect of it on art?

The first part of a Zen calligraphy session is dedicated to zazen, a period of formal sitting meditation. In this meditation period you first calm down, let’s say you empty yourself of all your attributes, and then you allow an awareness of just being. One of the common calming meditation techniques is mentally concentrating on the breath, following how it goes in and out.

A shift of attention takes place, from head to belly, from intellect to navel. It’s a kind of recollection period, as if all the different streams of your being flow together back in their own source. And this is the point why you do zazen first. For any creative activity, the mind has to be able to focus, and from this focus the creation can be born. Both mentally and physically, zazen gives you this creative energy. In Zen calligraphy this source energy is referred to as konton kaiki, it is the place from which everything arises. Physically I would say it is located behind the navel, mentally it has no place, it is everywhere, comparable to the space, unlimited and open.

In my art vision, how one prepares for a Zen calligraphy session could be applied to any other artistic activity.

Meditation is a means to nurture your own creative source, to heighten your responsiveness. Thanks to this receptiveness, inspiration is possible and art is born.

In traditional Japanese calligraphy and painting the artist should develop this receptiveness, and from it create her/his art. It is always the mind that precedes the action. If the mind is clear, then the brush can flow, without hindrances, and is filled with life.

5. How do you prevent artist’s block?

If the artist’s block is on the inspirational and mental level then what I have explained before about the importance of meditation to nurture your own creative source should help to prevent artist’s block.

A regular formal meditation is really one of the best methods. The more you dwell in your Self the more it will increase your intuition and creativity and give you a sense of spaciousness.

Perhaps one is not always capable of doing a formal meditation session, and then you should be flexible and diligent, have in mind the need for it and try to find other means. Sometimes one just needs to change the environment, refresh the inspiration among trees and mountains, and listen to the wind in the pine trees.

Among other causes of an artist’s block is for example impatience, lack of technical skill or energy, even a wrong diet that makes you too dull or too excited. One should pay attention to these different aspects of the creative process and see what needs to be changed.

6. What is needed to achieve a creative state of mind?

Receptiveness is the ground for inspiration and creation and, as I already explained, meditation is a perfect way to nurture it.

One of my favorite Chinese painters, Shih-t’ao (17th century) teaches that the artist should not try to imitate the outer form, but imitate the universal creative process itself. Thus, in my art tradition inspired by Taoism and Zen, Mother Nature itself is the teacher on the inner and outer level. Internally you nurture your connection with your universal life source, and with this inner vision you penetrate the mystery of the world and its myriad of manifestations. Therefore, a creative state of mind has to build up, on the one hand there is the work on the field itself, continuous study of the object and mastering of artistic skills and techniques, and on the other hand there is the work outside the field, connecting with and refining your intuition.

7. What do you consider the universal and eternal qualities in art?

From the artist’s point of view, the need to go beyond the mortal shell, the search for some kind of oneness.

The artist as an inspired human being has the wish and the ability to achieve a state of oneness in her/his art, a kind of spiritual communion. The artwork and life stories of many artists tell us about these supreme moments of inspiration, where art becomes a fountain, abundant and unconstraint. Art born from this highest state of creativity is very powerful, capable to move the human soul. This quality is what makes art to art; it is some kind of transmission that touches the soul from human to human, no matter what culture, time or place.

8. What is Makoto?

Makoto is Japanese for truthfulness, and in traditional Japanese art we could say it means to be truthful to the heart, to let your heart speak. If an artwork has makoto, then it is free from any pretense or artificiality, and it has a refreshing quality.

It is often used to describe the writing of the heart, the essence of the haiku poetry of the Japanese poet Bash?. But we also find it very much in Chinese and Japanese calligraphy and ink painting. Perhaps you have seen these wonderful ink paintings of one single flower or even a beetroot. You could say they are only a few brush strokes or some ink spots, and nevertheless they have such a beauty, such a vibrant sublime energy that they can touch you.
That is the quality of makoto.

In my own artistic education I strive after makoto.

9. What is the Mantra Gate Gate?

In life a lot of things happen, and some of them cause a lot of pain. One’s own suffering and others’ suffering can cause one to loose faith in life. When I first heard about the Buddhist teaching of the Perfection of Wisdom and learned that all sentient beings are intrinsically awakened, that all possess the Buddha Nature, I felt relieved. I began to understand my own ignorance and the way towards wisdom.

The Mantra Gate Gate is the quintessential sound of this universal truth of our Buddha nature, our true Self. In Sanskrit it sounds as follows:

gate gate paragate parasangate bodhi svaha

In English it is translated as:

gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, enlightenment hail!

For me the chanting of the Gate Gate Paragate mantra is a daily reminder and way to connect to this Perfection of wisdom. The mantra was transmitted by the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in the Heart Sutra. This sutra has inspired me from the first time I recited it. I have paid homage to this teaching in my book The Heart Sutra in Calligraphy. A Visual Appreciation of the Perfection of Wisdom, which is a unique copy of the entire Heart Sutra entirely brushed by myself in the ancient Chinese seal script. Anyone interested in the Mantra Gate Gate or the Heart Sutra can find more info at my web page.

10. Would you consider the art of calligraphy as enlightenment art?

Yes I do. The practice of Japanese calligraphy can bring one closer to the true Self. As a system of body and mind integration the mind, through the brush, learns to focus. With continuous practice the ability to focus increases, there are less distracting thoughts and the mind becomes more stable. The more stable the mind the clearer it will be and this quality itself gives a feeling of lightness in mind and body, which brings us nearer to our true Self. But of course we should not overdo it, and say that the single fact that one brushes a few brush strokes makes you enlightened. When we talk about Japanese calligraphy as a method of body and mind integration, we mean that it requires, like every art, the proper training, discipline and continuous dedication, and then perhaps one day the very Self flows out of the brush!

11. How do you market your artwork?

I do not market my work, but at my website The Art of Calligraphy I show my calligraphies and paintings and explain different aspects of my art and the tradition of Japanese calligraphy and painting.

12. What else is there that you’d like to share with our readers?

I would like to share the words of my favorite Western painter Henry Matisse who said “each work I do is an attempt to understand myself”.

Resource: The Art of Calligraphy

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