Crescent Moon and Sea C

Created in 1991, Crescent Moon and Sea C combines woodblock printing with ink and gold leaf on paper, adding a material luminosity to Iwami's ongoing meditation on the relationship between celestial bodies and water. The gold leaf introduces actual reflected light into the composition, mirroring the way moonlight scatters across the ocean's surface. The crescent moon, a slender arc of light in the night sky, casts a proportionally faint illumination that transforms the sea into a field of subtle tonal shifts rather than the bold light-dark contrasts of a full moon scene. The "C" designation indicates this is the third in a series exploring variations on the crescent-moon-and-sea theme. Iwami's use of gold leaf connects her modernist abstract practice to centuries of Japanese decorative art tradition, where gold represented divine light and cosmic presence.