Japanese subtlety and aesthetics

A woodcut print by Sakie Kanai.

Japanese prints are known for their soft colours, minimal expressions and meticulous lines and forms. Japan's tranquil weather has enormously influenced its printmakers' works over the ages. Their works are frequently done in subtle tones and scrupulous textures. Woodcut print is very popular in Japan, as printmakers can show various delicate lines and tones in this medium. The medium is very time consuming and arduous though. Artists, however, prefer it because the output looks remarkable. Bangladeshi painters, who received their higher education in fine arts from Japan, are engrossed with quiet colours and detailed lines, forms.
Sakie Kanai is a promising Japanese printmaker. Her solo exhibition featuring woodcut prints is now on at Zainul Gallery, Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University. Earlier she had participated in a group exhibition in Dhaka.
Sakie's works predominantly feature nature, mystery and emotion. She is not a figurative or objective printmaker. Varied unfamiliar forms and stratum of colours are noticeable in her works. The images are contemplative and balanced. The artist has tried to grasp inner feelings, yearnings and personal perceptions through her prints. Some of her images clearly express her fondness of geometric forms. Her forms are not formally arranged but articulate with an attentive approach.
There are different phases in Sakie's creations that are marked by her preference for one or more particular colours -- grey, light yellow, beige and light green. Sakie uses her colours more like impressionist painters. Her colours reveal their pure form. In her abstract compositions, space has been carefully marked out to create a feeling of closeness and spontaneity. Flat forms provide a kind of volume and dimension to her works.
“Poetry at Night,” on display at the exhibition, shows mingling of grey and light yellow. The forms look impressive on a relaxed ground. Sakie's colours denote a poetic imagination.
“It Goes in Rain” shows a black encircled form with some simple and curved lines. The lines symbolise rain and its lyrical aspects. Beige has been superbly magnified on the ground of this work.
“When it is Enclosed” depicts an architectural design of some uneven structures. The shape is the focal point, and the vision engages the viewer to contemplate the power of imagery and romanticism.
The exhibition ends on August 13.