HOSHI-NO-TSUBOMI (Star bud)

"Star bud" (HOSHI-NO-TSUBOMI) is a title with an almost haiku-like quality: the star as a kind of cosmic bud, or perhaps the flower bud seen as a miniature star. Kitaoka's interest in celestial subjects — which extended across several series of constellation prints — here merges with his botanical vocabulary to produce an image caught between two scales: the tiny intricacy of a flower not yet open and the vast, cold radiance of a point of light in the night sky. The title is the image's most significant content, orienting the visual toward a specific meditation.