Early Summer

Created around 1989, this woodblock print titled "Early Summer" represents another of Funasaka's infrequent departures from purely numerical titling toward seasonal or natural subjects. Early summer in Japan, known as shoka, marks the brief period between the end of spring rains and the onset of the humid, heavy heat of full summer. The light and air of this transitional season have a particular freshness that Funasaka translates into geometric terms, likely through a palette that favors the bright greens and clear blues associated with early June. The composition abstracts the sensory experience of the season into arrangements of color and form that evoke warmth, growth, and expanding daylight without depicting any recognizable natural element. The woodblock print format grounds this abstraction in the physicality of carved wood and applied pigment.