On view installation 2, September 8, 2012–January 13, 2013Ogata Kŏrin, the celebrated painter from Kyoto, depicted irises in many variations and media, and they became a standard theme among his followers. Here, their stately, vertical forms set against an angular bridge that sweeps diagonally across both screens reference an episode in The Ise Stories (Ise monogatari). Exiled from Kyoto after an affair with a high-ranking court lady, the story’s protagonist stops at Yatsuhashi, a place where a stream branches into eight channels, each with its own bridge. The sight of irises prompts him to compose a nostalgic love poem. The first syllable of each line of the poem forms the Japanese word for irises (kakitsubata), keeping in mind that ha and ba were written with the same character in ancient times. The English translation, though unable to convey the complex wordplay of the original, is also an acrostic:Karagoromo kitsutsu narenishi tsuma shi areba harubaru kinuru tabi o shi zo omou I wear robes with well-worn hems, Reminding me of my dear wifeI fondly think of always,So as my sojourn stretches onEver farther from home,Sadness fills my thoughts. —Trans. John T. Carpenter
