Nihonga Paintings — Deborah K Fung

I find inspiration for my paintings in the evocative possibilities of plant forms, landscapes, and weather, as well as in story. Fittingly, I have the privilege of exploring nature in art with natural painting materials. My paintings explore the expressive potential of natural forms by way of natural mineral pigments, natural piscine binder, and water. The paintings are created with layers of finely pulverized precious and semi-previous minerals. The minerals are pulverized to varying degrees of fineness to provide for variations in shade. For example, a deeper shade of royal blue consists of a less finely ground azurite and a paler shade of sky blue is achieved with more finely ground azurite. Each painting is completed with dozens of layers of pigments of varying fine-ness, from powder to fine grit. The layers achieve the effect of refraction, movement, and depth; in one small area. This effect, which is difficult to capture in photography, is the result of the play of light as the uneven edges of each mineral’s unique crystalline structure refracts the light. These are paintings for long looks rather than quick glances. The more one looks, the more one sees.