Shinichi Maruyama was born in 1968 in Nagano, Japan. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, in High School he became immersed in mountain climbing, and wanting to preserve the stunning landscapes began taking photographs. He started his professional career in Tokyo in 1993, 10 years later relocating his studio to New York City in search of more global opportunities.

As a young student, He often wrote Chinese characters in sumi ink. He loved the nervous, precarious feeling of sitting before an empty white page, the moment just before his brush touched the paper.

“Once your brush touches paper, you must finish the character, you have one chance. It can never be repeated or duplicated. You must commit your full attention and being to each stroke. Liquids, like ink, are elusive by nature. As sumi ink finds its own path through the paper grain, liquid finds its unique path as it moves through air.”

Remembering those childhood moments, of ink and empty page, he fashioned a large ‘brush’ and bucket of ink.

“I get the same feeling, a precarious nervous excitement, as I stand before the empty studio space. Each stroke is unique, ephemeral. I can never copy or recreate them. I know something fantastic is happening, “a decisive moment”, but I can’t fully understand the event until I look at these captured afterimages, these paintings in the sky.”

Twenty-five photographs and videos immortalize the choreographic moment in time where water meets ink and are the remembrance of the milliseconds where these sculptures exist.

Photos and video: Shinichi Maruyama | Youtube