The Floating World

Fans of Japanese art and of woodcuts are very familiar with ukiyo-e, usually translated as "pictures of the floating world". It refers to a specific period in Japan, roughly the 17th through 19th centuries. The otherwise very restrictive Japanese society gave an exception to the floating world, gated urban pleasure districts, first in Edo (modern Tokyo), then later some of the other large cities. In the pleasure districts could be found brothels, teahouses, kabuki theater, sumo wrestling, music, etc. Woodcut prints flourished in this time period, mass produced art depicting the activities and inhabitants of those pleasure districts. As Japan finally opened to western trade, these prints found their way to Europe (mostly as packing material in crates) where they influenced many early modern artists- such as cropped compositions, flat picture planes, etc.

My prints show far more western influence, but aspects of those Japanese prints come through, even if sometimes it's just second hand influence through impressionism. But the interest in Japanese woodcuts is there, and it will be reflected in a new series of prints. My working title for the new series is The Floating World, but the one I depict will be a different one. My subject matter will be New Jersey boardwalk culture. Although there are famous boardwalks around the country, they started here in Jersey, the first one created in Atlantic City. Boardwalks often literally "float" above the sand (and occasionally water), straddling the line between city and ocean. They are places people go to seek various pleasures. For kids, its arcades, rides, ice cream. Adults enjoy many of these things as well, along with the bars (and in Atlantic City, the casinos). And everyone likes the beach.

The idea came to me over a year ago, as I was on the boardwalk in Pt Pleasant doing sketches for another piece, and it's been gradually evolving in my mind and in notebooks since then. I feel it's now developed enough to start. My plan is 10 to 12 works, each about a different topic. These will all be diptychs, pairs of prints that can work as a set or as two individual prints. For example, the image shown at the top (by Utagawa Toyokuni) is actually 6 prints laid edge to edge to form one large image, but each print is in itself a complete composition. Some of mine will work like that- two prints that are halves of the same image, though each half will be able to stand alone. Others will just be pairs of prints with a common theme. I'm going to be working some things out as I go, but the plan is to have the prints show some influence of Japanese woodcuts without being imitations.