Island Studio

This woodcut was made in response to reading Po Chi-i’s moving account of living the simple life in a pavilion on the slopes of Mt Lu, written over 1,100 years ago; and seeing Ogata Korin’s sumptuous Red and White Plum Tree folding screen painting, c 1712. The studio in this image, set on an island overlooking a city on the other side of the water, is both an idealization of a cabin retreat set in the wilderness, and acts as a positive metaphor for an existence lived on the edge of society. From such a vantage point, looking in on the world from the outside, this picture is quite a personal account of the position I find myself in; being a somewhat detached observer as artist as well as attempting to keep a family together in the process.