Tree of King

Hoshi Joichi’s interest in art was sparking by a mimeograph printing job in his hometown in Niigata. At the age of 38, he enrolled in Musashino Art School (now Musashino Art University) to study printmaking. Hoshi’s woodblock prints involve delicate carving techniques that he personally developed, using a sickle and a stylus, and softening the carved lines using a fine gas burner flame in the manner of a brush. Subjects such as stars, horizons, and snow conveyed his yearnings and prayers to transcend finite human life and embrace the eternal, while down on earth, trees served as vessels for his thoughts and emotions. The gold leaf background in this work heightens the majesty of the great tree, whose intertwined branches seem to harbor the souls of those who have passed on to the high plain of heaven, while the robust trunk symbolizes the indomitable spirit of life on earth. (A.J.)