FLOWERS and ANGRY WAVES (“Hana to Doto”)

“Flowers and Angry Waves” – Mixed Media Canvas/Giclee in Acrylic paint. Sean D’Anconia – 2010

This print is part of a series showing the “life and times” of a certain gambler from my “Majestyland” mythology. This is the scene where he faces off against his greatest opponent. I pulled and combined elements together from both Western, Middle Eastern and Asian iconography to create a cinematic collage, paying its respects to underworld/gambling elements in many cultures.

The Irezumi-style kimono print is a hand-drawn recreation of the original tattoo that graced Fuji Junko’s body in Red Peony Gambler. The rest of the wave imagery were recreated from very old Japanese Ukiyo-E prints (circa 1800′s, I believe).

The cards in the center of this print are Kabufuda used for both Tehonbiki and Oicho-Kabu where a losing hand is 8-9-3 (Ya-Ku-Za). Tapestry print is actually Asian although it looks more Middle Eastern.

The woman in the print harkens back to Anna Karina, the Danish film actress who married French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard and starred in many of his films which are actually quite incredible. (see Alphaville)

These other cards are original – again a combination of British and Japanese elements, some borrowed from Hanafuda, others like the dragon are from a vintage matchbox collection that I recreated (very time consuming!). The words read, “Veritas and Aequitas” (truth and justice).

This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2011 at 7:09 am. It is filed under FEATURED, Japanese Culture, POP-FUSION ART and tagged with Anna Karina, British Iconography, Gambling, Golgo 13, Hanafuda, irezumi, kabufuda, Kimono art, Pop-Art, Quentin Tarantino, Rising Sun, Sean D'Anconia, Veritas et Aequitas, Yukio Mishima. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.