Moku Teraoka

Yesterday I was wondering around Soho when I came across the new Top Shop. The line was literally around the block and so I figured it could easily wait for another day.

At the end of the line, however, taped up to a sidewalk window, were two pretty hilarious signs. It turned out they belonged to a random one room gallery and performing art space called the Puffin Room, on Broome just east of Broadway.

Seeds of the Wild, their new exhibit, opened last weekend and it is really great. There are a number of artists and a number of mediums. I really enjoyed almost every piece on display, but one certain collection caught my eye. It was a series of about 10 or 12 "scratch paintings" done on paper ripped out of a notebook. Each one had a sentence or two below it explaining where the artist was, what he was doing and or unique insights about that certain trip. I inquired about them and one of the women who works at the gallery told me, that the artist was just there. I actually briefly met him, clueless as to who he was, right when I walked in.

His name is Moku Teraoka and he said that that the way he does these particular pieces is with some type of rare crayon made out of beeswax, then scratches it with some type of utensil (a scratcher??) then repeats it, seemingly countless times. Absolutely incredible.

When I got back home I looked him up as I was very interested to see more of his work. It turns out he has recently completed a documentary called "From Tokyo to the Morava River" (currently on view at Puffin Room) about the year he spent travelling with a Bosnian refugee in the Balkans. I can't wait to go back and watch this. The trailer looks great.

I also love what he says in his profile on the gallery site which is

And, always love to make music, jam session.