Iris No 70 — 花菖蒲 No 70

The seventieth iris in Sugiura Kazutoshi's long numbered series occupies a natural inflection point in the project — enough previous iterations to have established a clear visual language, enough remaining to continue developing it. The hana-shōbu rendered here shows Sugiura's characteristic interest in the flower's dramatic form: the falls that sweep downward and outward, the standards that rise upright, the complex veining of the petals that creates natural pattern within the bloom itself. The layered silkscreen process builds chromatic depth that rewards careful examination at close range.