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Kannon Bosatsu, Japanese Buddhist sculpture, 1985
Thomas Matsuda (b. 1956)
Conway, Massachusetts
Japanese Judas wood
26 x 10 x 10 in.
Collection of the artist
Photography by Jason Dowdle
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This sculpture of Kannon Bosatsu, a Bodhisattva or enlightened being, serves as a focus for meditation and daily ritual. Its sculptor Thomas Matsuda is a practicing Buddhist. This piece comes from his family's home altar. Japanese monks inspired Thomas Matsuda to study his art in Japan. He apprenticed under the sculptor Koukei Eri for two years, then lived in a mountain village where he carved more than two hundred sculptures for temples, shrines, and patrons. A decade later, Matsuda returned to the Massachusetts, where he continues to carve Buddhist sculpture and to teach. In 2014 and 2008, Thomas Matsuda was named a Mass Cultural Council Finalist in the Traditional Arts.
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