A beautiful catalogue is the result of a collaboration of the artist and local printer. Having been in the printing business for generations, this is in their words “the best we’ve ever made”. An excellent way to get a little closer to the works, especially if you couldn’t make it all the way to Japan for the exhibition.

“Months before the opening I saw the paintings that were emerging not only as an exhibition but also in the form of a book. A vital companion to the exhibition.

The Song of Koumi has no beginning or end. It is a record of one complete cycle of seasons, one turn around the Sun which of course never ends where it began as the solar system itself is moving outwards as part of The Great Expansion. One of the last pieces i made was ‘Mountain Heart Eruption’ (31.5 x 37.5 cm) a Monotype (page 45) made from memory, a distillation of how it feels to be at the last step of this journey in Koumi.

In order to find the correct sequence of the forty works selected for the catalogue, I printed out their images and then created a 3 meter long paper scroll where I laid them out according to the seasons. There was a certain amount of shuffling as the images found their places and then The Song of Koumi was represented with all its verses in the right place. This scroll I brought to the local printer Kikuhara Inc, who then - with a little help from me - created this catalogue. In the hope that the Song reaches places far beyond its conception.”

— Richard Hoare