Bird and Stars 1956

Jun'ichiro Sekino's print presents us with a symbolic language that dances between the earthly and the celestial realms. Dominating the composition are stylized representations of a bird and stars, ancient symbols laden with meaning across cultures. Birds, often seen as messengers between worlds, and stars, as guides in the night sky, evoke themes of aspiration, navigation, and the search for higher truths. Consider how the bird, fragmented yet soaring, mirrors the human spirit's perpetual quest for meaning. This motif echoes in ancient Egyptian art, where birds symbolized the soul’s journey after death, or in the myth of Icarus, forever striving towards the sun. The stars, too, find resonance in countless traditions. From the Magi following the star of Bethlehem to the celestial maps of ancient astronomers, they represent destiny, guidance, and the cosmic order. The emotional pull of this image lies in its inherent suggestion of movement and the unknown. The bird's fragmented form and the stars' distant glimmer tap into our subconscious longing for transcendence. The artist seems to be suggesting that, like the stars, symbols have a non-linear progression, resurfacing, evolving, and taking on new meanings in different historical contexts.