The flower is red
and the willow is green

(Sotōba)

I shouldn’t write a single word, and yet, I do. I even strive to find what the right words might be, fully aware that any interpretation will inevitably move away from what should be observed in silence. The beauty of not doing things as well as one would like lies in knowing there is always much to learn.

The willow is green, a short and simple phrase in its structure suddenly takes on an overwhelming importance for me. A profound emotion that envelops both reason and intuition. A phrase almost childlike and unpretentious, yet one that reveals, in a very concrete way, a possible truth. A simple truth, but one that delves into the possibility of a deep understanding of everything around us. A sequence of words emphasizing full awareness and the perception of nature and objects as they truly are. A comprehension only attainable through the understanding granted by silence—a silence that secretly builds us.

Here today is a painting.

Water, ink, linen, and a form that will always constitute a concrete yet unfathomable/ unmanageable truth. An action-condensing movement that occurred in a brief moment in time but will manifest forever in the here and now. An absolute concentration of time, action, and thought within a defined space.

Painting is an artifact from the past that installs itself exquisitely perfect in every instant of the present. With every glance, the painting molds itself within us, in the here and now. There is no way to hold onto it, no option to save it for later. A painting is always an absolute present.

A unique experience, tied to the fleeting nature of time. The same blue sky each day, yet it will never again be yesterday’s sky. The painting clings to every moment, vanishing as we stand before it. An emotion and understanding that is untransferable, where each person will only receive precisely what they can absorb. A painting will never give you anything you don’t deserve, but it will also never fail to give you everything that is rightfully yours.

(Nico Munuera. January 2025)