Daito keigo (4) 

This woodblock print, ‘Daito keigo’, was made by Ike no Taiga in 18th century Japan. Here, the figures and their entanglement are imbued with a profound sense of life’s energy, or ‘élan vital’. Consider the ‘Anasyrma’ motif—the lifting of the skirt—a symbol found in ancient Greek art, promising rebirth. It’s a gesture of power, a confrontation with mortality. Now, observe the joyous embrace here. Though presented in a different guise, doesn't it echo the same life-affirming defiance? From antiquity to the floating world of Japan, these echoes remind us that art is never truly bound by time or geography. Symbols resurface, carrying with them the weight of ages, each iteration colored by its own cultural and psychological landscape. Such is the enduring power of images.