A contemporary Japanese artist renowned
for her imaginative quotations from art history, Yamaguchi Ai explores two classical aesthetic concepts in her painting hanahiru (sneeze) 2012.The floral motifs underneath the hair adapt Edo-period kimono patterns and pay tribute to the artist’s background as textile designer. They mingle with short Japanese poems (waka) by the so-called Thirty-six Immortal Poets, written fluidly with gold pigment. Even though five of the Thirty-six Immortal Poets are female, Yamaguchi does not include a poem by them, but hints at their presence through the long, flowing hair superimposing the poems.

Calligraphy, like painting, requires the use of a brush and can be considered as the ancestor of painting, so that is why I studied it a little. From calligraphy to painting and vice versa, I believe there must be such come and go...Thoughts are reflected on the black hair which becomes
brush and ink…

—Yamaguchi Ai