Morning Glories 1909 - 1910

Kamisaka Sekka made this woodblock print titled Morning Glories, and what strikes me is how much it’s about seeing, framing, and looking through. I really enjoy how the dark vertical bands read as a fence or a screen, but they also create a strong graphic pattern. Look closely and you can see the bloom in the upper right, pushing against the frame. It makes me think about the material aspects of the work, the texture, color, and surface and how the physicality of the medium shapes my emotional experience of the artwork. There is a subtle push and pull created through the contrasting colours. The way the green vines twist around the dark frame also feels like a conversation with artists like Hokusai. I love the idea of art as an ongoing dialogue across time, embracing ambiguity and multiple interpretations.