Still Life - Hanga Vol.5 1925

Editor: We’re looking at Koshiro Onchi's "Still Life - Hanga Vol.5" from 1925, a stark black and white print. It’s got this bold, almost graphic quality. There are recognisable objects, like a bottle and fruit, but it’s all fractured and geometric. How do you interpret this work? Curator: I see a potent distillation of form. Notice how Onchi utilizes the contrast – the positive and negative space are not just aesthetic choices, but symbolic gestures. Black, often associated with the subconscious, confronts white, which embodies purity or enlightenment. The objects themselves become carriers of meaning. Editor: In what way? Curator: A bottle often symbolizes containment, a vessel of secrets, or perhaps a conduit to altered states of consciousness. And fruit is universally understood to be fertile, about nature's bounty, or the sweetness of experience. Placed together, they provoke us to examine the relationship between restraint and indulgence, reality and artifice. Does the composition evoke any feelings or memories for you? Editor: It’s a bit unsettling. The starkness makes me feel like something's hidden just out of view. Curator: Exactly. That unsettling feeling, that disruption, is crucial. Onchi invites us to confront the shadows within ourselves, the unresolved tensions that shape our perceptions. It isn't just a still life, but a still moment, frozen in time and layered with meaning. Editor: I never would have seen that on my own! So, it's not just about the objects themselves, but what they represent on a deeper level. I appreciate your point on unsettling feelings - it’s very perceptive. Curator: And it's about acknowledging that unease, exploring its roots, and maybe even finding a strange kind of beauty within it.