Ichikawa Sansho as Umeo in Kurumabiki 1953

This is Natori Shunsen’s striking print of Ichikawa Sansho as Umeo in Kurumabiki, and it’s all about color and line doing a kind of wild dance together. Look at the actor’s face, this kabuki mask of red and white, it’s so graphic and bold, like a topographical map of emotion. The way the lines curve and twist, they almost vibrate, it's like the artist is thinking through the mask, feeling out the contours of this character. Then there’s the robe, with its pattern of bold blues and whites, creating a rhythm that pulls you in and out of the image. What I find compelling is how Shunsen embraces the flatness of the print, there’s no attempt to hide the process, but instead, the focus is on the arrangement of these blocks of color, it is a play of contrasts, a conversation between the controlled and the chaotic. Thinking about other artists, it reminds me a little of Matisse, in the way he uses color to create space and form. It shows how art is always in dialogue, always borrowing and transforming, always keeping it fresh.