Lotus

Lotus (2010), color woodcut by Hiroki Morinoue. The horizontal composition is divided into distinct vertical bands of pattern and color: an emerald-green panel with a glowing green almond/eye-shaped outline over a navy field of dotted concentric circles; a wide teal-and-sage panel of rippling concentric rings; a deep blue panel patterned with bright cyan ring outlines; and a golden-brown panel where vertical striations suggest rippling water, with two pale lotus blossoms on thin stems rising above small circular ripples, capped by a small inset panel of orange, green, and blue reed-like vertical strokes. The palette moves from cool greens and blues on the left to warm golds and browns on the right, with the lotus flowers appearing only in the final band; the overall mood is calm and meditative, built entirely from repeating circular and linear motifs.