Wasps and hairy caterpillar on arrowroot 1788

Curator: What strikes you first about this 1788 woodblock print, titled "Wasps and hairy caterpillar on arrowroot" by Kitagawa Utamaro? Editor: Immediately, I see this fragility, this tension. The delicate pink flowers are contrasted with a dark caterpillar and menacing wasps. The beauty and the threat seem to coexist, perhaps even depend on each other. It’s unsettling and beautiful at once. Curator: Ukiyo-e prints like this one often played with this balance, celebrating nature’s beauty while also hinting at its less idyllic aspects. Note the details given to the wasps’ nest and the texture of the caterpillar. Do you see the symbolism within Japanese culture? Editor: Definitely. The arrowroot itself might symbolize strength and flexibility, the ability to bend but not break in the face of adversity. Is the hairy caterpillar simply a figure of abjection? It does seem like the abject counterpart of the elegant wasps. Curator: You're right, it may reflect an idea about the life cycle, showing transformation or even mortality, so often present in art of this time. Ukiyo-e prints such as these are so compelling because the symbols resonate so powerfully over generations. I'm particularly fascinated by how a single print becomes this vehicle for continuity and shared understanding. It provides a potent vehicle for that purpose and its survival. Editor: Right. This tension, so subtly rendered, might have something to do with that continuity, speaking to us today. Curator: Precisely. The image may initially read as "simply nature," it's the interplay of threat and fragility that holds so much enduring appeal, don't you think? It almost proposes something new on each view! Editor: Absolutely! A potent mix indeed. I now want to think about it differently. Thank you.