Song of Wave 2
by Reika Iwami
- Date:
- Not set
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
by Reika Iwami
$1,000–$8,000. Common prints: $1,000–$2,500. Key value factors: Iwami Reika's luminous abstract prints are among the most sought-after by female Japanese printmakers. Her cosmic and water-inspired works command the highest prices.
Song of Wave 2 extends Iwami's musical metaphor to the specific phenomenon of ocean waves, treating the rhythmic rise and fall of water as a form of natural music made visible. The numbered sequel suggests a continuing investigation, with each Song of Wave print capturing a different rhythmic pattern or dynamic intensity. Waves are inherently musical: they have frequency, amplitude, and interference patterns that create harmonics and dissonance, and Iwami's woodblock technique translates these physical properties into visual equivalents on paper. The carved wood grain of the printing blocks may itself suggest the texture of moving water, creating a material sympathy between tool and subject. Iwami's sustained attention to waves across multiple prints and decades of work reflects the Japanese aesthetic concept of finding infinite variety within a single, endlessly repeated natural phenomenon.
1940
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Boshu Taikai
1925
Color woodblock print; oban
September 1931
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Song of Wave 2 was created by Reika Iwami (岩見禮花) in Not set.
Song of Wave 2 depicts seascapes.
