Tanabota is a contracted form of tanabotamochi — a Japanese idiomatic expression meaning an unexpected windfall or lucky stroke, derived from the image of botamochi (sweet rice cakes covered in azuki bean paste) falling from a shelf. Stewart's etching likely renders these dense, darkly colored confections as a still-life subject, their rounded forms and matte surfaces offering an interplay of absorbed and reflected light well suited to intaglio tonal work. Botamochi are associated with the spring and autumn equinox observances (ohigan), when they are traditionally prepared as offerings at household altars and temple graves. The domestic and ritual associations of the subject connect it to the broader Japanese material culture that Stewart has documented throughout his Kyoto-based career. The title's idiomatic layer adds a wry, understated humor to what might otherwise read as a straightforward food still life.
Tanabota was created by Joel Stewart.
Tanabota uses Etching and Lithograph, on etching.
Tanabota depicts still life.
