Taking Them to Sacred Spaces by Tenjin Ikeda

Taking Them to Sacred Space by Tenjin Ikeda, 2021, multi-block lino cut, 30 x 40 inches.

Taking them to Sacred Spaces is a spiritual rights of passage that allows the individual to shed the old and converge with the divine, the realm of the spirit allowing them to remember their purpose and to fulfill their destiny here on earth. It s a journey that I have been on myself and have participated with others who have also gone on this journey. My work has its foundation is the traditional Yoruba spiritual practices of Isese, which was definitely  not a very common in American culture when I was growing up in the early 70’s. It is this foundation that has been a jumping point for me to navigate the ancient and the modern through my artwork.

Tenjin Ikeda is an Afro-Puerto Rican artist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York on October 30, 1968. At a very young age learned the importance of tradition and heritage from his mother. He taught himself how to draw at an early age and he was hooked, he has been seriously making art for 30 plus years using the various mediums of painting, sculpture, and printmaking. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York first focusing on graphic design and ultimately Fine Arts where he felt more freedom to express himself. It was at the Art Students League that he discovered printmaking, which has been his focus for the past 20 plus years. “It is my desire to continue to visibly show the richness of my ancestry to the world.” He has various works in private collections in the US, Canada, Mexico, Bahamas as well as acquisitions by The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Print Club of Albany, and the Art Students League. Tenjin’s work has been featured as cover art and illustrations for various books. He has been included in “Modern Printmaking” an upcoming book of 30 contemporary printmakers by Sylvie Covey. Tenjin, also worked for 6 years as an artist assistant to Richard Artschwager and with artist Keith Haring on a mural project Mr. Haring did at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He has participated in-group shows in different parts of the United States, Ireland, Japan as well as Spain and Australia.