Portland Art Museum & Northwest Film Center at home.![[Image description: Arbre (Tree), Minami Keiko, 11 7/16 x 11 7/16 inches, color etching and aquatint on paper. A square print depicting a highly stylized landscape featuring a large tree, a cloud, and a partial sun. The large tree begins at center bottom, its thick trunk rising and splitting into a wide V shape. The black bark is depicted as short vertical dashes grouped and layered at the trunk’s sides to convey depth. In the space left by the V-shaped branches are three oversized leaves placed side by side. The one in the middle has a pointed top while the other two have rounded tops. They are larger than the tree’s trunk and are composed of a multitude of smaller etched leaves over vertical dashes. Enveloping the large leaves and the upper branches is a muted green shape resembling a circle with the top edge depressed into itself. The circle contains more vertical black dashes. A line drawing of a bird is perched on the top right of the green shape. Above, a thin cloud composed of horizontal dashes appears. Just off center at upper left, a half circle resembling a partial sun is composed of concentric dashes. The background is a pale gray and resembles woven fabric.]](https://nwfc.pam.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Minami-Keiko.jpg)
Minami Keiko’s etchings offer the magic of fairy tale-like, narrative settings. Her fine touches on the printing plate and understated colors result in delicate, sometimes whimsical scenes. For me, she is often sweet without being cloying. Yet some prints hint at a deeper and more mysterious sense of ennui, loneliness, or alienation. Minami was orphaned… Read more
Even though the official start of spring is still a week away, we can feel the shift in the season. This piece by Fujikasa Satoko feels like a perfect embodiment of springtime—bursting forth, flowing, bringing energy and light into our days. A celebrated Japanese ceramicist, Fujikasa transforms clay into astonishing creations that appear lighter than… Read more
Titles offer insight into an artist’s vision and add layers of meaning to an artwork. Japanese printmaker Azechi Umetarō often took inspiration from his experiences mountaineering, as we see in this print, Yuki otoko (Man in Snow). He made dozens of woodblock prints of similar subjects. His human figures in the snowy mountains are often… Read more
This print is one of 12 split-screen compositions that represent each month of the year. Much like writing resolutions or eating black-eyed peas, The First Month shows activities associated with New Year celebrations. At the top, a handsome young man writes New Year greetings on a sheaf of paper tied to the decorative pine. A… Read more
The arrival of a new year gives us an opportunity to pause, to set intentions, to be open to the expanse of time and space all around us. This piece by Katsumata Chieko, offers a way to enter into that expanse, that openness, that empty vessel of a fresh start, while also being mindful of… Read more
In 2021, the Year of the Ox begins. 1829 was also an ox year. Poets in Mino province commissioned the artist Keisai Eisen to design this special print to commemorate the new year. Privately commissioned prints like these are called surimono and feature expensive materials and techniques. This small ox figurine, sitting on layered futon… Read more
The Portland Art Museum is pleased to announce that Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D., has been appointed as The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art. Dr. Kenmotsu, who joined the Museum’s curatorial staff in 2017 as Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art and was promoted to Associate Curator in 2019, has also been serving… Read more
As we move towards the winter solstice and our nights continue to lengthen, we are exploring the gifts and challenges of the darkness, along with the expectant hope of the return of the light. This piece by Miyashita Zenji feels like the perfect companion for this time. We invite you to spend some time sitting… Read more
Zhao Zongzao’s mist-shrouded mountain landscape has reminded me of the foggy scenes of Oregon these last weeks. Zhao’s subject is the natural scenic area around Mount Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), south of the Yangtze River. One dramatic site is named for the celestial Mount Penglai, legendary island of the immortals. Here, the artist evokes the soaring… Read more
Oregonians have been asked to pause social gatherings to help curb the spike in COVID-19 cases across our state over the next two weeks. How can we step outside in our imaginations instead? Both the beauty found in this piece by Shima Tamami and the honking of geese and flitting of birds outside our windows… Read more