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ArtistFull-screen, complete width, broad, 16:9 format of a delicate linocut with bokeh edges, rich colors, executed on rough handmade paper of poem number 55, Dainagon Kintō, of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: "Though the waterfall / Ceased its flowing long ago, / And its sound is stilled, / Yet, in name it ever flows, / And in fame may yet be heard." The image consists of two layers superimposed like two panes of glass: The layer undeneath features a mountainside with a lively, sparkling, silver waterfall dashing merrily down rocks to a still, dark pool among rich, verdant vegetation. The second layer, semi-transparently covering the first layer, shows the same mountainside, but the vegetaion has withered and the waterfall no longer exists, exposing the craggy rocks beneath the erstwhile waterfall. The layer underneath is a memory, and the layer on top is a currnet representation of the landscape. The image is rendered as an exceedingly detailed, highly symbolic, large, zentangle-like, hand-colored woodcut with enormous detail. Clarity of rendering, timeless, symbolical motif. Masterful technique. Exquisite Japanese folio.
Poem No. 55 from the Japanese poetry collection Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (see https://jti.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/hyakunin/hyakua.html). The left side of the image depicts the past, when the waterfall was flowing freely. The right symbolizes the present day, when the waterfall has become a mere memory. The poet demonsrates an uncanny "...ability to express this sense of change and impermanence to life..." (https://100poets.com/2013/03/16/here-today-gone-tomorrow-poem-55/).