Refractions

I have had the privilege of reading Makoto Fujimura’s elegant book Refractions twice. The first was conventionally – at home – sprawled in bed and draped over our settees while various cups of tea for company. The second reading of Refractions was while travelling without a reservation on a rattling train cross India from west to east. Most of the book was read scrunched up on a tiny bit of space –while my family slumbered on the floor of the train – with Fujimura’s words illuminated by the light of a weak lamp.

Refractions is a collection of essays that Fujimura originally wrote for his blog. Their quality makes their transition to the printed page seamless.

Throughout the essays we see a constant thread woven in and out of Fujimura’s life as an artist – his quest for beauty and his celebration of his craft. Fujimura is an American of Japanese origin who chose to apprentice with a master painter in the Nihonga (Japanese-style) painting tradition. As an outsider – being American – he managed to gain an unprecedented acceptance into an advanced course of study led by a doyen of this painting style with clear roots back to 14^th century Japan.

Refractions uses words to flesh out the colours and textures of Fujimura’s experiences. He paints with reverence – celebrating both the texture and quality of his papers and hand-crushed dyes – but also expresses his reverence for his Creator who his Christian faith allows him to celebrate through his art. While most of Fujimura’s art is more about colour and texture than exact representations – his concerns see to it that his art reflects on the human condition – and the concreteness of history.

The major event resonating through this set of essays is the catastrophic attack on the World Trade Towers in New York City on Sept. 11 2001. Fujimura experienced this terror first hand – and many of his thoughts in this volume reflect back on the terrible events and aftermath. Faced with the chaos and hurt, with the swirling uncertainties and dust, Fujimura the artist responds with beauty and prayer and reaching out through creating safe places for expressing the inner.

A second strand that is woven through the essays – and which appealed deeply to me – is the novelist’s eye Fujimura shows when describing his travels – especially in the Japanese countryside. This delight in the beauty of things, the essential wonder of the material may have been accentuated for me due to its contrast to my dingy conditions during my second reading on the train. But Fujimura’s faculty in distilling the essential – and instilling a rounded image in the mind makes the book worth a read in itself – even without his meditations around these images.

The final strand which stands out golden is that of Fujimura’s ruminations on his Christian faith. As an artist Fujimura believes that the world is pregnant with meaning. As an adult follower of Christ he approaches life with the twin lenses of a faith the seeks to make sense out of chaos and one that seeks expression of his deepest issues through his understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. The fact that he expresses these aesthetically not in the classical tradition of representative western religious art – but through the his own Japanese-rooted Nihonga style makes it all the more refreshing to me.

If I have any bone to pick with Refractions as a book, it is in the visual representation of Fujimura’s art. For one who makes such vivid images, the pictures in the small volume I have seem strangely small and dark – almost faded. I wish I could see more. Perhaps the publisher needs better paper? Or a more compelling layout designer?

I came away from the book feeling that I have nibbled a bit into the person who Fujimura is. His ruminations about image and meaning – and his taking me along with him through some of the fascinating circles he treads has stretched my world a little more. Whether it be while drinking chai at home – or reading while hunched over sleeping forms while hurtling through the night on a cold train – journeying with Fujimura to lands of expressed aesthetics left me all the more richer.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."