Iris No 59 - 花菖蒲 Ｎｏ．５９

The fifty-ninth iris in Sugiura Kazutoshi's numbered series — rendered here in the full-width Japanese numeral format (花菖蒲 Ｎｏ．５９) — is positioned at a pivotal moment in the long project, early enough to still be developing its formal language but far enough along to show a settled technical approach. The hana-shōbu at this stage of the series shows Sugiura growing comfortable with the compositional possibilities of the subject: the vertical sword-leaves framing blooms of considerable complexity, the whole rendered through layered woodblock and silkscreen printing that builds chromatic depth through accumulation.