Details
IWASAKI ERI (B.1968)
The Scent of Poppy Seed Incense: "Bind the hem of my robe, to keep it within, The grieving soul that has wandered through the skies", 2019
sealed E on right edge, titled and signed on verso
natural mineral pigments and platinum paint on Japanese mulberry paper laid on wood panel
13 x 21 in. (33 x 53.3 cm.)
With a paper label, titled, signed and sealed
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Lot Essay

A pale figure gathers drifting strands of hair that coil around her body like incense smoke. In this luminous work, Iwasaki Eri dissolves the boundary between body and atmosphere, the flowing lines enveloping the figure in a quiet vortex. Traditional materials appear in washi (Japanese mulberry paper) and iwa-enogu (ground mineral pigments), recalling the mineral radiance of classical Japanese painting. The circling forms evoke the sinuous rhythms of the octopus scene by Katsushika Hokusai (Lot 43), while this ghostly beauty emerging from darkness recalls spectral women depicted by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Lot 40). The fragile, dissolving body also resonates with meditations on identity and transformation in the film poster Ghost in the Shell (Lot 28).

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