Nicole Wassall
Flying Geisha Girl - White, 2014
Hand finished silkscreen on Somerset 100% cotton rag paper
112 x 76 cm
44 1/8 x 29 7/8 in
44 1/8 x 29 7/8 in
Edition of 45
Copyright The Artist
Deeply moved by the bravery of the Fukushima 50 Wassall had a particularly vivid dream of a traditional Japanese woman floating above Hokusai's 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa' inside the...
Deeply moved by the bravery of the Fukushima 50 Wassall had a particularly vivid dream of a traditional Japanese woman floating above Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" inside the framework of a box . The flying woman tuned out to be a stored memory of Suzuki Harunobu’s young woman jumping form Kiyomizu-dera Temple (the Temple of Pure Water), Kyoto, c.1750. "The Flying Geisha Girl", a hand painted screen print, is a direct result of this dream.
Key to the print was to capture grace under pressure, when faced with almost certain doom; a beautiful human trait. In this way Wassall honoured the bravery of the Fukushima 50, the workers who stayed behind at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant following Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami March 2011. They risked their lives to prevent a worse catastrophe, by manually pumping sea water into the overheating reactors.
Wassall decorated the obi (kimono belt) with swallows to unite both Eastern and Western traditions. In the East swallows are a symbol of good luck, prosperity, and family harmony, and used artistically as a motif of spring, joy and the grace of nature. In the West, there is a maritime tradition for sailors to get a swallow tattoo each 5000 nautical miles sailed. And legend has it, that if they drown at sea, the swallows will pick up their souls and fly them to heaven.
Key to the print was to capture grace under pressure, when faced with almost certain doom; a beautiful human trait. In this way Wassall honoured the bravery of the Fukushima 50, the workers who stayed behind at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant following Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami March 2011. They risked their lives to prevent a worse catastrophe, by manually pumping sea water into the overheating reactors.
Wassall decorated the obi (kimono belt) with swallows to unite both Eastern and Western traditions. In the East swallows are a symbol of good luck, prosperity, and family harmony, and used artistically as a motif of spring, joy and the grace of nature. In the West, there is a maritime tradition for sailors to get a swallow tattoo each 5000 nautical miles sailed. And legend has it, that if they drown at sea, the swallows will pick up their souls and fly them to heaven.