Set of Three Hanging Scrolls, Day Dream Plays (Kakemono sampukutsui utsusu no asobi) c. 1755

Curator: Let's consider this Ukiyo-e print titled "Set of Three Hanging Scrolls, Day Dream Plays (Kakemono sampukutsui utsusu no asobi)" by Nishimura Shigenaga, dating from about 1755. It's currently held at the Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: My immediate sense is of intimacy, almost voyeuristic. The compartmentalization creates distinct yet related zones—the gazes both directed inward and outward at the viewer, or perhaps at themselves through us? Curator: Yes, the structure itself—the three panels within the print—functions as a mise-en-abyme, echoing the thematic exploration of observation and performance. Notice the lines: stark, and how they define space. How does that make you feel? Editor: Constrained, a bit claustrophobic. And there is so much pattern – but this intensifies the drama. Those meticulously rendered kimono patterns, are beautiful but confining; like being trapped within one’s social role. Does the green dominate the scenes for you? Curator: Interesting observation. The green, offset by salmon, frames, quite literally, this interiority. Shigenaga’s use of woodblock printing enables flat planes of color and stark linearity. There’s a suppression of depth to enhance surface appeal, which feels characteristic of Ukiyo-e aesthetics. This visual effect reinforces the conceptual flattening of experience into artifice. Editor: But the subtle variations in pose, the tilt of the head in the center panel, suggest a yearning that bursts through that flatness. She’s adjusting her hair, caught in a moment of vulnerability amidst this stagecraft of her surroundings. Do you think that that scene of "Day Dream Plays" has been staged or authentic? Curator: I think that ambivalence is intentional. The artistry lies precisely in this tension between revealing and concealing. Shigenaga presents a reality thoroughly mediated by aesthetic convention. Editor: It really stays with you. Makes you wonder about the real, invisible self. And who’s doing the dreaming: is it her or me now?