I was introduced to the idea of wabi-
sabi through O’Hanlon Center for the
Arts a couple of years ago. The iconic
art center in Mill Valley has had a
14-year tradition of hosting an annual
wabi-sabi gallery show, and I had the
good fortune to persuade Mr. Koren
to speak on the concept in O’Hanlon
Center’s gallery. I had hopes of
gaining some insight into this elusive
concept, something alien not only to
me, but much of Western culture, so
often obsessed with the “new and
shiny.” Wabi-sabi, I discovered, is the
exact opposite. It is about seeing the
beauty in the old and rusty.
The idea of having a wabi-sabi show
is credited to Joan Sadler, who was
a devoted student of Ann O’Hanlon.
Ann, and her husband and sculptor
Richard O’Hanlon, traveled to Japan
in the ‘50s to study the art and
calligraphy there. The O’Hanlons’ lives
and art touched on the spirit of wabi-
sabi. Their handmade studios and the
simplicity, serenity, and unpolished
elegance of their home and property
displayed a reverence for nature.
So it is no wonder that one of the
first places to spotlight the wabi-sabi
concept locally was the O’Hanlon
Center for the Arts. Joan Sadler
was quick to recognize its particular
resonance with the core philosophy of
the center, that emphasizes opening
our senses to the natural world around
us, and noticing and finding beauty in
the simplest and least pretentious of
its elements.
The O’Hanlon Center website page
dedicated to wabi-sabi says: “To
understand wabi-sabi, we have to
grasp the concept that beauty is
not in the object, but rather in the
experience of it—the mood, the
atmosphere, the feeling it evokes—a
feeling that even the Japanese refuse
to try to define. Its scope is not
limited to art, but becomes an overall
approach to life, to the magic of
everyday living. In essence, it invites us
to quiet contemplation, encouraging
us to slow down, look closely and be
patient.”
Joan, who intended to co-jury this
year’s show, passed away in March
at the age of 95. This year’s wabi-
sabi exhibition will be dedicated to
her. One of Joan’s photos was chosen
to announce the show both at the
center and on the cover of the June
Mill Valley Arts Commission ArtWalk
program. Joan’s co-juror, writer and
assemblage artist Abby Wasserman,
will be joined by artist and wabi-sabi
student Elaine James to select from
the works submitted to the show.
Both jurors are facilitators at the
O’Hanlon Center, and both have a
deep interest in the aesthetic concept
of wabi-sabi.
Elaine James has visited Japan twice,
first in 1967 when she spent several
weeks in Tokyo and a then a few
months in Kamakura. Her studies
have been with Yoshiko Wada at
Fiberworks in Berkeley and at San
Francisco State in the ‘70s when she
studied historical tea ceremony and
literature in translation. I asked Elaine
to offer some pointers as to what
wabi-sabi is:
“Wabi-Sabi is strongly present in
Japanese Tea Ceremony: “Each
Meeting, Only Once”—“Ichi-go,
Ichi-e”— expresses the importance
of the aesthetic. We are meeting
to drink tea, and it may be our first
time, our last time, our only time.
This meeting place, this picture, this
scroll, this image, this tea vessel, this
cup, this tea, this fire, this water, this
body is here now and may be gone by
tomorrow. The place, the furnishings,
the service are often old, they may
be cracked, they may be rusted, they
have a worn loveliness. This poem by
Fujiwara Teika was written during
a period of war and expresses the
aesthetic and the mood of Wabi-Sabi:
Casting wide my gaze
Neither flowers
Nor scarlet leaves
A bayside hovel of reeds
In the autumn dusk
Personally, I am curious how summer,
the season associated with bright
colors and life bursting out, was
selected for the annual wabi-sabi
show. Late winter or autumn seems
more fitting, since wabi-sabi is
typically associated with the very
beginning or ending of things.
Perhaps it is a reminder in the middle
of the year that this season too will
pass, that all things age and move
to impermanence and there is great
wonder and beauty in that.
We invite you to experience Bay Area
artists’ Western interpretation of the
wab-sabi aesthetic at the 14th Annual
Wabi-Sabi Exhibition in the O’Hanlon
Gallery at the O’Hanlon Center for the
Arts, 616 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill
Valley, June 1-22. Admission to the
gallery is free and open to the public
Tuesday through Friday, 11am to 3pm
and Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. The
opening reception will be on Tuesday,
June 6, from 6-8pm., with an Artists’
Roundtable Dialogue starting from
4-6pm. MAC
MARIN ARTS & CULTURE 45