Blue Smoke (Seien)

"Blue Smoke" (Seien) evokes the quality of incense or tobacco smoke as it disperses into still interior air — a subject that in Japanese aesthetics carries associations of contemplation, sensory pleasure, and the passage of time. The blue of the title suggests the particular quality of smoke seen against a light source, its translucent wisps offering the printmaker an opportunity to demonstrate the subtlest gradations the woodblock medium can achieve. Binnie's treatment is likely a bijin composition in which the smoke and figure inhabit a shared, atmospheric interior.