by Nana Shiomi
$1,500–$8,000. Common subjects: $1,500–$3,000. Key value factors: Shiomi's exquisite mezzotint technique makes her prints highly sought after. Still life subjects are most collected.
This 2005 mokuhanga print takes its title from consecutive dates in May 1956 — the month and year of Shiomi's birth — suggesting an autobiographical meditation rendered through the language of still life. The dual-date structure implies a diptych format or a composition that holds two temporal moments in tension within a single sheet. Shiomi's characteristic approach to organic abstraction likely translates private memory into flowing form: soft gradations achieved through bokashi blending, areas of open washi allowing the paper's natural texture to participate in the image, and color fields that dissolve rather than demarcate. The still life designation suggests grounded, tangible forms — vessels, surfaces, or gathered objects — though in Shiomi's hands these collapse into rhythm and atmosphere. The print functions less as representation than as mark of duration, using mokuhanga's layered process to trace the passage from one day to the next.
'7th May 1956, 8th May 1956' was created by Nana Shiomi (塩見奈々) in 2005.
'7th May 1956, 8th May 1956' depicts still life.
