Night Flights
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga on washi
- Image courtesy of
- La Lanta Fine Art
Description
Night Flights presents a nocturnal landscape, likely depicting the movement of insects, birds, or bats through tropical darkness — a subject with particular resonance in the rich biodiversity of Southeast Asia. Kiggell deploys the deep, saturated dark grounds achievable through multiple applications of water-based pigment in mokuhanga, against which lighter forms trace their paths through the composition. Bokashi gradations modulate the sky from dense indigo into softer passages, a technique with strong precedent in Japanese landscape prints. The washi support, with its slight luminosity and fibrous texture, gives the night sky a characteristic warmth absent from Western printmaking papers.
More Prints by Ralph Kiggell
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Night Flights was created by Ralph Kiggell.
Night Flights uses Washi, on mokuhanga on washi.
Night Flights depicts landscapes and night scenes.