Enso 1922

Nakahara Nantenbo made this ink drawing, Enso, sometime between 1839 and 1925. I can imagine the artist poised, brush loaded with ink, making one decisive, fluid gesture that nearly closes the circle. It's so spare, so quick, so full of meaning. I imagine Nantenbo contemplating the void, the infinite, and the cyclical nature of existence. That gap in the circle—is it intentional? Does it suggest incompleteness or potential? Or an opening, a portal to another dimension? What would it be like to trust your hand to make this one gesture? It makes me think of Cy Twombly, or even Joan Miró. The beauty of a single, spontaneous gesture, so full of energy. Artists are always talking to each other across time and space, each one responding to what came before, and setting the stage for the next generation.