Lipstick - 口紅

Printed around 1980 in a first edition, this oban print captures a woman in the act of applying lipstick, the Japanese title "Kuchibeni" naming the cosmetic directly. Shimura Tatsumi focuses on the precise, practiced motion of applying color to the lips, a gesture that combines self-presentation with physical delicacy. The mirror, the cosmetic, and the woman's concentrated expression create a triangle of attention within the composition. Shimura's late works often zeroed in on specific moments within the grooming ritual, finding in each small action a world of aesthetic meaning and the quiet discipline of feminine self-creation.