Snow at Zōjōji Temple

"Snow at Zōjōji Temple" was made by Hasui Kawase, and although it is undated, it is a woodblock print – think of it as a painting that has been translated through sculpture. The color palette here is really about the dance between the red of the temple and the white of the snow, and it gives me a sense of the quiet beauty of a winter day. Kawase isn’t going for photorealism. He is capturing a fleeting moment in time, making a mood, not a replica. What I love about this print is how Kawase uses texture to bring the scene to life, the way the snow seems to soften all the edges, and the lines of the falling snow. The way that the artist uses the wood grain to create a sense of depth and atmosphere, reminds me of the graphic work of someone like Emil Nolde, but with a Japanese sensibility. In the end, art is all about conversation, between the artist and the material, the artist and the viewer, and between artists across time and space.