"Not Falling" Daruma Dolls, Suzuki Shōnen

Exhibition Label: “The Sacred and the Secular: Buddhist Imagery in Religious and Popular Contexts,” Oct-2005, Hillary Pedersen The popular egg-shaped dolls depicted in this set of screens are weighted at the bottom so that whenever they are knocked down, they immediately swing back up. Daruma dolls carry multiple meanings ranging from the auspicious to the bawdy. A popular New Year's custom is to paint one eye on a new Daruma doll and promise it the other if, by year's end, one's wish has been fulfilled. Here the reference is to the use of the toy in drinking competitions. The poem inscribed on the left-hand screen reads: Not falling, not falling Drunk, but not falling Daruma dolls refer ultimately to the unwavering determination of Bodhidharma, an Indian monk who is venerated as the founder of Zen, or Chan Buddhism. According to legend, Daruma emigrated to China where he sat cross-legged facing a wall for nine years, meditating with such intensity that he remained upright even after his legs atrophied. In this pair of screens, Shonen has used a monumental scale and dramatic brushwork to convey the intensity of Bodhidharma's mental concentration. At the same time, the humor of the figures' wayward eyes and wildly rocking bodies invites the viewer to laugh at the vicissitudes of human life. Archive Label 2003: The popular egg-shaped dolls depicted in this set of screens are weighted at the bottom so that whenever they are knocked down, they immediately swing back up. Daruma dolls carry multiple meanings ranging from the auspicious to the bawdy. A popular New Year’s custom is to paint one eye on a new Daruma doll and promise it the other if, by year’s end, one’s wish has been fulfilled. Here the reference is to the use of the toy in drinking competitions. The poem inscribed on the left-hand screen reads: Not falling, not falling Drunk, but not falling Daruma dolls refer ultimately to the unwavering determination of Bodhidharma, an Indian monk who is venerated as the founder of Chan/Zen Buddhism. According to legend, Daruma emigrated to China where he sat cross-legged facing a wall for nine years, meditating with such intensity that he remained upright even after his legs atrophied. In this pair of screens, Shonen has used a monumental scale and dramatic brushwork to convey the intensity of Bodhidharma’s mental concentration. At the same time, the humor of the figures’ wayward eyes and wildly rocking bodies invites the viewer to laugh at the vicissitudes of human life.