Max Gimblett

Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1935

fierce fire

  • 1978
  • Sumi ink / Strathmore Aquarius Watercolour, Machine Made Cotton & Synthetic Paper. USA
  • The Max Gimblett and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Gift
  • 559 x 762mm
  • 2011/143

“Enso is perhaps the leading motif in Japanese calligraphy. It certainly has become mine. It took maybe fifteen years’ drawing before my ensos became round – previously they were ovals or sort of one-sided squeezed circles as I misjudged my centre and ran towards the left or right side of the paper. Also, I had not resolved my in and out; practice makes perfect. […] I was introduced to Zen calligraphy in San Francisco. I studied with the Japanese masters of all ages; they came to my studio and instructed me when I invoked their name.” —Max Gimblett (Max Gimblett: Ocean Wheel, 1 August – 15 November 2020)