Ukiyo-e 3

If you haven’t already, we recommend reading our philosohpy before you go any further.

In this triptych series, Ukiyo-e 1, 2, and 3, Studio Acacia has created a series that explores an art form that was a source of great inspiration for so many modern artists, from Cézanne to Manet — Japanese woodblock printing, otherwise known as Ukiyo-e or ‘pictures of the floating world,’ a style of art that was epitomised by Katsushika Hokusai’s ‘Great Wave’ (1831) and Utagawa Hiroshige’s ‘Station of Otsu’ (c.1848-9). Using these two seminal works as the starting point of this triptych series, Studio Acacia explores Ukiyo-e in its various forms and definitions.

In the third of this triptych series, continuing the slow deconstruction, the floating world has dissipated to reveal this crowded scene below. Using another seminal work of this genre as her starting point, namely Utagawa Hiroshige’s ‘Station of Otsu’ (c.1848-9), Studio Acacia’s final work in this triptych explores a few of the visual keys that can often unlock understanding of Ukiyo-e works.

First and foremost, depicted is an everyday scene. Once the gaze is focused, we can make out a flock of people sat densely amongst each other. In this case, it is a scene taken from an open-air concert in the botanical gardens in Singapore. The second theme that Hiroshige’s and Studio Acacia’s work share is a raised viewpoint. The slightly raised viewpoint gives off a voyeuristic affect that is accentuated by the structure of the image running diagonally through to the top-right of the image from the bottom left, again, another key visual tool that Hiroshige has used. The final similarity to be drawn between Studio Acacia’s ‘Ukiyo-e 3’ and Hiroshige’s work is the cropped view. To add more dynamism to the picture the image is aggressively cropped, with the result that we, the viewers, feel strangely present in this scene.

Utagawa Hiroshige’s ‘Station of Otsu’ (c.1848-9)

All these pictorial elements — the diagonal band, the raised viewpoint, asymmetrical design, exaggerated foreshortening, and severe cropping — is something that can also be closely mirrored in Edgar Degas’ ‘The Dance Class’ (1874). Ukiyo-e 3 can therefore be seen as the culmination of Studio Acacia’s exploration into a genre of art that moulded much of the modern art we treasure today -- both through its visual tools and appereances.

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