TOYS AND SHELL AND MIRAGE OF RIUGU 

Editor: So, this intriguing woodblock print, "Toys and Shell and Mirage of Riugu" by Keisai Eisen, feels like a dreamscape. There's a palace floating on clouds and a shell with scissors! How do you interpret this whimsical combination? Curator: It's Eisen playing with symbolism, I think. The palace likely refers to Ryugu-jo, the Dragon Palace, representing the unattainable. The shell, a tangible object, and scissors, tools for creation or alteration, ground the fantasy, hinting at the power of imagination to reshape reality. What does it evoke for you? Editor: That makes sense. I was stuck on the juxtaposition, but the idea of imaginative power shifts everything. It's kind of liberating! Curator: Exactly! Art often invites us to dance between the real and unreal, doesn’t it? It’s a delightful invitation to embrace the fluid nature of perception.