Mt. Holly Cross 1966

This is Mt. Holly Cross, a landscape probably made with woodblock printmaking by Toshi Yoshida. I see this matrix of fine lines and soft colours, and I think about the labour that must have gone into its making, the meticulous, almost meditative, process of carving and printing, layering colour upon colour to conjure this open scene. The textures in this piece are so interesting, from the smoothness of the sky to the feathery edges of the trees and the busyness of the foliage and wildflowers on the hillside. Take a look at the mountain range in the background: the artist creates this effect of depth and distance through subtle shifts in colour and value, building up the form with these repeated etched lines. I love the way that these lines, when viewed up close, become abstract patterns in themselves. This layering and building up of the image reminds me of the printmaking of someone like Dürer, while the overall aesthetic has that distinctly Japanese sensibility: a kind of elegant balance between realism and abstraction. Ultimately, art is all about this give and take, this dialogue between what we see and how we make it our own.