Tea and Tea Bowl

Artist Nana Shiomi (born 1956 in Japan; active in London)

Date2016

MediumWoodcut print Edition 6/30

DimensionsImage: 11 3/4 × 11 3/4 inches (29.8 × 29.8 cm);
Sheet: 16 × 15 7/8 inches (40.6 × 40.3 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Younghee Kim-Wait, in honor of Cathy Rosa Klimaszewski

Terms

Prints
Japanese

Object number2021.022.003

Label CopyIn this series, tea bowls of various designs float on top of a wooden floor. The background is filled with looming dark red, which darkens even more toward the edge. Nana Shiomi is a contemporary Japanese printmaker who is based in the United Kingdom. A floor with lines receding into the background is a characteristic of her work. Shiomi expressed that the receding floor represents the Western world, since the technique of perspective is a key element in Western art. By placing a Japanese item, such as a tea bowl, above the floor, it signifies the complexities in balancing the Japanese and Western worlds. She explained that a tea bowl is a small object, but when looking inside a bowl of tea it’s like looking into a different world.

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