Small butterfly and sunflower 

This is a woodblock print of a sunflower and a butterfly made by Ohara Koson, a Japanese artist active in the early 20th century. Here, the sunflower, radiant in its golden hue, is not merely a flower, but a symbol of vitality and adoration, especially in its posture turning towards the sun, echoing humanity's timeless quest for enlightenment. Note the butterfly, a delicate presence in the composition, and a long-standing symbol for metamorphosis and the soul's journey. Consider how the ancient Greeks perceived Psyche, the soul, often depicted with butterfly wings, or the Taoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou’s famous dream of being a butterfly, blurring the lines between reality and illusion. The butterfly appears across cultures as a symbol of transformation, which resonates with our deepest psychological processes. The symbolism of the butterfly is not linear but cyclical, a pattern of death and rebirth deeply embedded in our collective psyche. It is these motifs that, through constant reinvention, link us to the past, and shape our understanding of the present.