This Summoning Wind (Fūjin Raijin Diptych)
⊛ This Summoning Wind • Fujin Raijin Diptych
⊛ cut paper on wood
⊛ 10.1 x 7.2 in • 257 x 182 mm
⊛ private collection
Confined in a leathery sack, the wind swirls and gusts, waiting to be loosed as a gentle zephyr or a raging hurricane.
The keeper of the wind is Fūjin 風神, one of the oldest of the Japanese Shinto gods. All along, I thought it was an amazing coincidence that Fūjin, along with Greek gods of the wind Boreas and Aeolus, carried the wind in a sack over his shoulder. If Wikipedia is to be believed, it is because the Japanese deity evolved from the Greek. Go figure.
Fūjin here is part of a diptych. You can probably guess who is featured on the left half. There's a whole story to be revealed, both thematically and artistically, when the halves are placed side by side. For the moment though, I think I'll keep things simple and let the old windbag speak for himself.