ARTIST STATEMENT
Grinding the ink stick against the stone is where the painting begins. The repetition quiets thought and prepares the hand. When the brush touches the paper, the painting must arrive in one continuous breath.
Much of my work is contemporary abstraction, but it relies on the discipline of traditional sumi-e. I also work with landscape, botanical subjects, and classical forms. Whatever the subject, the brush leads.
Sumi-e allows no erasure. Each mark is permanent; each stroke changes what can follow. A new stroke may bring balance, but the original mark remains. This is not a flaw in the process. It is the process. Many sheets do not survive it.
The painting is not a perfected image, but a record of a moment: brush, ink, paper, breath, timing, pressure, clarity, and release. Whether working abstractly or from traditional forms, I return to the same practice: the discipline of training the hand, and the rare freedom of forgetting it.
ARTIST BIO
Ayan Rivera is a sumi-e artist based in Tel Aviv, Israel. He trained under master painter Koho Yamamoto in New York City from 1988 to 1991, studying traditional sumi-e techniques alongside the philosophy of presence and surrender central to the practice. His work spans contemporary abstraction, landscape, and botanical subjects, executed in traditional sumi ink on washi and unsized papers.
Rivera's work has been exhibited at institutions including the Fleischer Art Memorial in Philadelphia, New York University, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and shown at solo exhibitions in New York and the Pacific Northwest. Public commissions include installations for Amazon and the Bainbridge Performing Arts. His work is held in private collections in the United States and Israel, and he is currently represented by Kobo Shop Gallery in Seattle.
He accepts commissions for custom work.
THE PRACTICE
For years, I passed an unassuming studio on the corner of Houston and MacDougal in New York City. Inside was Koho Yamamoto. Her work was powerful, graceful and stirred something deep in me. From 1988 to 1991, I studied under her guidance, learning not only the technical mastery of the brush but the deeper practice of presence that defines this art form.
I paint for those brief, elusive moments when eye, hand, and brush move together without interference from the mind and when letting go allows something else to flow through. At first glance, it may look like I spend most of my time tediously rubbing an ink stick against a stone. Why not just use bottled ink? Because the grinding is part of the work. It gently wears away the noisy crust of thought. Gradually, the motion pulls me into stillness, and if I'm lucky, a moment of clarity arrives, and I step out of my own way.
ABOUT SUMI-E
Sumi-e is both an art form and a mindfulness practice. Sumi means "ink" in Japanese. The tools are simple: a brush, ink stick, ink stone, and paper. The ink is made by grinding an ink stick against a stone with water until it becomes a rich, black liquid. In sumi-e, mastery of the brushstroke is only the beginning. The deeper aim is to let that skill (and all deliberate thought) fall away, creating space for clarity and spontaneity. Each stroke is permanent and cannot be altered, so every mark informs the next. The process is less about bringing a fixed idea to life and more about meeting the present moment, one stroke at a time.
CONTACT
For gallery representation inquiries, commissions, licensing, or to purchase available work: studio@ayanrivera.com
For a complete exhibition history [View CV] or [Download CV]
