Ricco/Maresca is pleased to announce its debut presentation of works on paper by the Japanese artist Hiroyuki Doi, a self-taught artist known for his mysterious and emotive abstractions whose compositions are made up of billowing, cloud-like forms. In his drawings on Japanese papers made with mulberry and other kinds of bark, Doi, who is based in Tokyo and began making art after many years as a chef in Japan, builds up his dramatic images using little more than random clusters of tiny circles.

Zen Buddhism’s influence can be felt in interpretations of the circle as a symbol of the universe or as a symbol of the void. It can also refer to a spirit-lifting sense of enlightenment that transcends the pressures and distractions of the fleeting material world. Doi has said that his compositions, which are rich in visual texture, allude to “the transmigration of the soul, the cosmos, the coexistence of living creatures, human cells, human dialog and peace.”

Whenever he starts working on a new drawing, Doi allows each new image he creates to evolve spontaneously and to organically find its final form. His work sessions are long and meditative. Doi has recalled: “Something other than myself has allowed me to draw these works.” About his art, he says: “By drawing circles, I feel I am alive and existing in the cosmos.”

The public is invited to attend “A Conversation With the Artist,” which will take place at the gallery at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 8, 2011.