Romantic Chiyogami

"Romantic Chiyogami" celebrates chiyogami — the decorated Japanese paper printed with colorful traditional patterns that was used for origami, small crafts, and decorative purposes — as a subject in its own right. The word "romantic" suggests Kawakami's view of chiyogami as carrying an emotional charge beyond its practical uses: it was a form of traditional beauty associated with childhood, folk craft, and the particular pleasure of Japanese decorative pattern. His print about chiyogami is itself a meditation on printed pattern and the pleasure of repetition and color.