Bamboo 1922

This is Bamboo, made by Kuang Xü, probably with a woodblock, sometime before 1909. It’s mostly this incredible, intense red, with the ghostly white of the bamboo cutting through. It’s all about process, you know? The image itself feels so immediate. Look at the different marks that make up the bamboo – some are sharp, some are soft, some are broken. It's got that roughness to it, where you feel the hand of the artist, but at the same time, the plant is so delicately rendered. And the red! It almost feels like it's breathing. The texture of the paper adds to it. It makes me think of Chinese calligraphy, how a single brushstroke can hold so much weight and meaning. It brings to mind Hokusai, that Japanese printmaker from an earlier era, another master of simplifying form to capture the essence of nature. It's art as a conversation, always borrowing, always transforming. In the end, it's the feeling it evokes, the way it lingers in your mind, that really matters.