Winter-no.1
In exploring the visual and spatial qualities of light and colour I became fascinated by Ohara Koson (1877-1945), a Japanese woodblock artist whose prints are based on realistic depiction of flowers and animals, such as birds, monkeys and fishes. I am inspired by his prints not only because of the craftsmanship but also how beautifully the subject matter is depicted and how carefully colour is chosen. For example, I find it very beautiful to see how a kingfisher stays still on a snowy tree and having a rest or maybe searching fishes in a river. I also marvel at the gradation of the background colour, how yellow gradually changes into soft blue.
In my own work, I wanted to create a similar pictorial atmosphere to that of Koson. To this effect, I used Japanese paper, and painted the inner edges and back of stretcher bars. The colour has a gentle reflection and slowly bleeds into the white surfaces. The effect reminds me of the warm soft light that comes through a Shoji, a Japanese sliding door consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood. While applying this technique, I capture the poetic atmosphere of the kingfisher on a snowy tree.
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