Japan Journeys by Steven Silverleaf

NOTE: Steven Silverleaf is participating in the Studio Tour on both weekends. Find him at Studio #47.

This summer, I spent the month of August in residency at Tenjinyama Art Center in Sapporo, Japan. I had done a residency in 2023 and was in need of a working space and they let me know that if I would apply they would fast track my application and find me some working space at the center. Tenjinyama is situated on a small mountain in the middle of Sapporo and shares the top of the hill with a Shinto shrine. The whole mountain is designated a city park and is also adjacent to a cemetery full of traditional ancestral plots.

Since I had lodging, I did not need to stay at the facility and although the center was two subway stops away from lodging, I chose most days to walk even when burdened with art supplies and my iPad – which is much heavier than I would have thought when lugging it around.

Walking was thinking time as I organized my thoughts to the project I had given myself of creating ten collages and then three more on the subject of dance, which was on my mind. Sapporo is usually pretty cool in the summer but these last few years, like a lot of places, it was a bit warmer. On sunny days, the hot sun even by 9 a.m. could feel quite toasty so I would naturally seek the shade of buildings to make the walk a bit more pleasant. I decided in a poetic twist of words that the shade was chasing me instead of the usual thinking that I was seeking shade. I liked the sound of that much better.

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