Gourd with Seals 1790 - 1832

Curator: This watercolor and ink drawing, likely from between 1790 and 1832, is attributed to Rai San'yō. It’s called "Gourd with Seals." Editor: Oh, what a quirky piece! At first glance, it feels so delicate, almost fragile. The pale wash of color and the calligraphic lines... and then these very solid, grounded, yet whimsical red seal marks disrupting the peaceful vibe. I want to touch it! Curator: I get that! It is both simple and complex. The gourd form, while subtly rendered in the ink lines, is almost completely covered by these bright red seals, tiny windows to a different narrative. Editor: How do you read them, in the context of societal control through imposed bureaucracy of its feudal times? Does the imposition of those seals make the form powerful or take it away? There is a tension to it! And then to add, literally, a cherry on top - or dark splash –the inky top and tendrils… like it might crawl right off the canvas. Curator: Right! The gourd itself could be a symbol of longevity, health... even fertility. Perhaps these seals are the artist’s way of interacting with those traditional symbols, or perhaps co-opting and even defacing them. It’s a kind of reclamation of something simultaneously old and brand new. Editor: Or perhaps about being owned—the gourd and its symbol belonging to a powerful regime that wields a painful and generative process to give meaning to things that may mean other things? The artist may have wished to highlight it all along… Who owned these artworks—who owns the symbols—and what does that say about us? It’s so complex! Curator: Exactly, and it's this complexity, this dance between intention and interpretation, that I think makes the piece so intriguing. It keeps drawing you back, like the vine climbing back up the gourd. Editor: Yeah, you’re right. This is definitely an artwork you could keep looking at, keep thinking about, keep debating long after you’ve left the gallery. And I suspect everyone brings their own lens through which they see this piece.