We tend to think of creativity as something that is free from limits.
But what if the opposite was also true?
The benefit of working within limits is that it is precisely the act of pushing against these limits, stretching them, bending them, playing with them, which leads to interesting artistic expression.
In other words, in order to push boundaries, there have to be boundaries existing in the first place.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe agrees: “To achieve great things we must be self-confine: mastery is revealed in limitation.”
This is especially evident in Japanese calligraphy; as an artform it is incredibly restrictive. Boundaries are clear and unequivocal. Thus the effect is all the more powerful when a calligraphy artist successfully transcends these boundaries, expressing Japanese characters in an original and moving way.
Calligraphy by Vicky 