Deciding what exhibit to go to in the Metropolitan Museum of Art can be quite a daunting task, so difficult that I left my voyage up to chance, randomly selecting a room and heading there. In my quest to locate The American Wing, I stumbled upon a sign for Japanese Art. Coming from half an Asian background I’ve always found Asian art particularly beautiful and interesting, so off I went to explore.

I stood in a dark room with few people, accompanied to the sound of a waterfall. It was quite pleasant, and their uniquely modern sculptures took me by surprise. I was expecting traditional art such as calligraphy and flowers, but instead, I saw abstract pieces – one of the most interesting was a deer made out of glass balls.

However, it was the 1979 piece entitled Footprint of the Buddha by Kondo Yukaka that took me in awe. From afar, I thought the overall print was beautiful, but once I got closer, I saw the fantastically unique detail. Each indentation was the name of a country, city, district, restaurant and name the artist knew, some in English, others in Japanese. This merging of cultural beliefs is very intriguing. Japanese ceramic art resonates very close to Japan’s culture, so to have it contain English words and an Indian Buddha footprint, exemplifies a fascinating culmination of all cultures.

Unfortunately, these camera-phone pictures lack depth and fail to do the piece justice. When I studied and admired it, I tried to see it from all angles, bending down to be at eye level and standing on my tippy toes to get an overhead view. Each angle made it appear slightly different from the other, making my overall impression very comprehensive. Other than the angles, I also found the placement of the two pieces interesting. When going online to find information on it, I noticed that the two pieces were pushed together as opposed to being spread apart. When they were pushed together, it made the piece appear more like a footprint, yet when spread apart, it became more abstract.

Overall, I found this piece both beautiful and interesting, and I’m happy I stumbled upon this serene section of an otherwise chaotic museum.