Treasure Ship Goddess of All Animals

Another entry in Oda's "Treasure Ship Goddesses" series, this composition places a presiding female deity among a multitude of creatures aboard the takarabune. The goddess of all animals draws on Oda's syncretic spiritual vocabulary — Buddhist Kannon (bodhisattva of compassion), the classical Greek Artemis as protector of wild things, and folk imagery of the Seven Lucky Gods' treasure-laden vessel — collapsed into a single figure. Mokuhanga production allows the bodies of various animals to be carved as discrete shapes on separate blocks, each printed in a distinct color on washi. The composition uses the boat itself as a horizontal stage upon which the figures arrange themselves, a structural device borrowed from classical takarabune prints but populated with Oda's goddess and her menagerie. The work expresses the ecological-spiritual concerns that run through Oda's mature practice.