Artist Statement
Meredith Mullins … A Wabi-Sabi Journey
In Japan, I found myself in quiet moments—often observing the stillness within movement. The pause within a ritual, the space around a solitary form, the reflection woven into ripples on the water, the gesture of a geisha, the bird caught for an instant between earth and sky.
I did not set out to illustrate wabi-sabi—the Japanese sensibility that finds beauty in simplicity, imperfection, impermanence, and age.
Rather, wabi-sabi became part of my travels, deepening my connection to nature and to the simple elegance of everyday life. It offered me an unencumbered creative freedom. Places and moments came to me as much as I came to them. I entered gardens and temples and then slowly let them enter me.
I was often reminded that beauty need not be perfect or permanent. Beauty can be fleeting, weathered, and incomplete. Sometimes it is found not in what demands our attention, but in what quietly waits for us to notice.
This exhibit spreads wide wings because I wanted to share so many different parts of Japan and its culture. My hope is that these images and Helen Ogden’s inspired haiku give you a sense of the sacred silences and the beauty and timeless nature of Japan. The photographs are printed on Hahnemühle archival rag paper in limited editions of 10.
I am especially grateful to the Pacific Grove Art Center, Kim Moreno, Megan Goodwin, Joe Platko, and Kirk Kennedy for their support of the exhibition (organization, installation, and photo printing) and to Helen Ogden for her beautiful haiku. I would also like to thank the many friends who were a part of this journey and the final selection of images, especially David Taggart, Normi Burke, Sherry Long, Sam and Jeanne Gesumaria, Carol Starr, Erick Paraiso, and John Pitchel, Julien Chameroy, and Craig Carlson. The exhibit is dedicated to my dear friend Jerry Fielder who was an integral part of my life and art.
Helen Ogden Artist Statement
The writing of haiku has become, for me, a form of meditation. A way of cultivating gratitude by being in the moment and paying close attention to the world around me, in all its imperfection and impermanence. In her poem Sometimes, the poet Mary Oliver advised:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
These haiku poems, written in response to some of Meredith’s photographs, are ‘ekphrastic’ poetry, inspired by works of art rather than by personal experience. Her images are, to my mind, a visual form of haiku that put the viewer in a particular place at a point in time by capturing the essence of the moment. Meredith’s photos allow one to enter the scene. After viewing these images, I feel that I have taken a short, but meaningful, journey to Japan.
I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to participate in Meredith’s exhibit, and also wish to thank The Pacific Grove Art Center, and especially Kim Moreno for her help in making this happen. I am also deeply indebted to Chuck Brickley, who has been my mentor on my haiku journey.