Geishou

“I first used a palette knife, then a piece of wood, then my bare hands, and then my bare feet. In order to place a massive amount of paint on canvas all at once, I had to remove the canvas from the wood frame and affix it directly to the floor. Should I have used a conventional upright canvas placed on an easel, the mass of paint would have created something like a flood-induced landslide or an avalanche on winter mountains. In order to prevent myself from slipping on the paint, I needed to have a piece of rope from the ceiling so that I could hold onto it. Thus began my foot painting, or painting with feet by sliding over canvas.” (K. Shiraga, quoted in R. Tomii and F. McCaffrey, Kazuo Shiraga Six Decades, New York 2009, p. 68)