Owl

An owl rendered in Kimura's contemporary woodblock style — the nocturnal bird depicted in its characteristic round-headed, forward-facing posture, the large eyes adapted for night vision giving it an almost human quality of direct gaze. Owls were associated in Japanese culture with wisdom, good luck, and the mysteries of the night, and Kimura's owl subjects recur throughout his career as vehicles for exploring the graphic possibilities of the bird's distinctive silhouette and the atmospheric qualities of the night world it inhabits.