In Slumber and Whimsy

"In Slumber and Whimsy" (まどろみ たわむれ), a 2023 woodcut measuring 64 × 83 cm, takes its title from the pairing of まどろみ — a drowsy, half-asleep state — with たわむれ, meaning play or frolic. The juxtaposition suggests an image holding two registers at once: the stillness of reverie and the kinetic quality of play, a liminal subject sitting between waking and dream.

The dimensions exceed the traditional oban format associated with Edo-period nishiki-e, situating the work within the conventions of contemporary Japanese woodcut, where larger sheets of washi accommodate more expansive pictorial space and broader carved areas. As a hand-printed woodcut, the work continues the lineage of relief printing on absorbent washi while operating outside the divided artisan workshop system of the Edo period — designer, carver, and printer typically being a single contemporary artist.

Kuroda trained at Musashino Art University, whose printmaking program has produced a cohort of woodcut artists active in the 2010s and 2020s. The print was included in the 68th CWAJ Print Show 2025, the annual exhibition organized by the College Women's Association of Japan that has served since 1956 as a primary venue for contemporary Japanese printmaking.