Hanga
Listening to the stream of the universe by Fujimori Shizuo — Japanese Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)

Listening to the stream of the universe

by Fujimori Shizuo

Medium:
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Image courtesy of
Saru Gallery

Description

The poetic title suggests a contemplative composition organized around moving water, likely a solitary figure or empty landscape beside a flowing stream—a subject that allowed sosaku-hanga artists to combine landscape and meditative content within a single image. The Rivers & Lakes context confirms water as the central pictorial element, treated through carefully registered linear carving for currents and possibly bokashi gradations to suggest depth and shadow within the streambed. Such philosophical or metaphysical titles were not uncommon among sosaku-hanga practitioners, who positioned the woodblock print as a vehicle for inward expression rather than illustration. The pictorial restraint typical of Fujimori's mature work—reduced palette, strong block carving, deliberate flatness in passages of color—suits a title that gestures toward audible rather than visible phenomena. The print belongs to the strand of his output where the medium's quiet, layered character carries metaphysical weight, distinguishing it from his more straightforwardly topographical landscape prints of Iizuka and Tokyo.

More Prints by Fujimori Shizuo

More Rivers & Lakes Prints

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Frequently Asked Questions

Listening to the stream of the universe was created by Fujimori Shizuo (藤森静雄).

Listening to the stream of the universe depicts rivers & lakes.