Tea and Tea Bowl

A still-life composition centered on a chawan, the Japanese tea bowl, alongside tea itself — most likely matcha, the powdered green tea of the chanoyu ceremony. The chawan has been a sustained object of contemplation in Japanese aesthetics, valued for the wabi-sabi qualities of irregular form, subtle glaze variation, and the marks of the maker's hand. Mokuhanga is responsive to such subjects: water-based pigments printed with the baren reproduce the soft tonal modulations of glaze and the depth of the bowl's interior. Shiomi's attention to natural materials and surfaces extends here to a single ceramic vessel, treated with the focused observation more typical of her water and vegetation studies. The composition likely sets the bowl against a quiet field, isolating it for prolonged looking. The print connects her broader practice to the long lineage of still life in Japanese art, particularly imagery associated with chanoyu and the contemplative use of everyday objects.