Mushin: The Silence of Mind


                                                         Betta Fish, 2019  Sumi-e on paper, 70 × 50 cm


  In sumi-e, a painting is not made. It appears.

 In 2019, I sat in front of the paper without the intention of creating a finished work. I only wanted to begin and see what might emerge. I picked up one of my thickest brushes and imagined making a few broad marks before adding smaller touches later.

But first, I paused. I followed my breath and sat in silence for a short while. The mind slowed down.

 As I looked at the paper, a fish appeared. It had not yet passed from brush to paper, but it was already there.

Then the brush moved. One stroke, then another.

When I lifted the brush, a betta fish was there.

 That moment stayed with me because I had not planned the image. There had only been a quiet state, a gesture, and something that emerged through it.

 This is close to what I understand as mushin: not the absence of awareness, but the absence of interference. In such moments, the work is not forced. It appears.

 I never sold that painting. I kept it in my own collection, because it was not only a fish. It was the trace of a moment.

                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                 H.Ş. — 25/04/2026

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