While living in Japan one part of Japanese folklore that has always interested me was “oni” or Japanese ogres. Oni have been a prominent part of Japanese culture going back hundreds of years, most popularly in “setsubun,” a spring festival where millions of Japanese throw red beans outside their homes to ward off evil spirits. “Oni” also come up in many other parts of Japanese folklore and religion.
Though famous for tanuki statues I have come across fascinating “oni” sculptures while cycling through the ceramics towns of Shiga. Giant, 2 and 3 meter statues with incredible expressions on their brightly colored faces line roadsides and storefronts. There are also entire museums dedicated to “oni” masks. Even though they are supposedly evil beings, the Japanese representations display every range of human emotion; some laughing wildly, others with cute pouting faces and yet others with menacing glares.
My interest in “oni” varies from the traditional vein. Rather than historical or religious elements the “oni” drawings deal with human emotions. While drawing human figures there are always guidelines dictating what would be in the drawing and in what proportion. Changing the subject to beings of fantasy I found the lines lightened up and gave a freshness to the drawings.