Matsuba
“This little fire at the end of a twisted paper string is something you hold between two fingers in summer, keeping perfectly still. In Japan, each stage …
€800 — Popsan
“This little fire at the end of a twisted paper string is something you hold between two fingers in summer, keeping perfectly still. In Japan, each stage of its flame has a name, and the one I painted is called matsuba, pine needles: the moment when the sparks branch out in every direction, like twigs of gold. It is the only light in the canvas. It climbs over the hand pinching the string, over the bowed profile, over the white collar, and on its way it lights up the golden dragonflies on the midnight-blue kimono. You look at the sparks first, but the detail that matters is lower down: the other hand, open, palm up, just beneath the fire. We know how this ends: the little glowing ball alway…
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