Water in Spring

The title suggests a study of moving water in the spring season — likely flowing stream, rippled surface, or pooled water animated by seasonal change. Kojima's lithographic practice typically renders such subjects in her signature palette of black ink and warm cream, building tonal depth through layered flat planes rather than the gradient bokashi associated with traditional woodblock methods. Spring water (haru no mizu) is a recurring subject in Japanese visual culture, evoking thaw and the transient clarity that comes with the season's earliest weeks. Within Kojima's wider body of work — which more often pairs contemporary female figures with traditional motifs like plum, peony, and cresting wave — pure nature compositions like this one show her decorative sensibility distilled to its quietest register, drawing on the same design vocabulary she developed alongside her work for the Japanese fashion and home-goods industries. The lithographic medium allows fine line work suited to the lattice-like surface patterns characteristic of her output.