The Great Wave and Beyond: Finding Inspiration in Hokusai's Vision

If you have spent any time looking at my work, you might notice a recurring rhythm in the curves of the water and the peaks of the mountains. Much of that rhythm is a quiet thank you to Katsushika Hokusai. While many people recognize his most famous piece, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, his influence on japanese paper art and my own handmade collage art goes much deeper than a single image. He was a man obsessed with the energy of the world, and that is a spirit I try to bring into my studio every day.

Understanding The Great Wave: History and Symbolism

The Great Wave is perhaps the most iconic image in all of Japanese art. It was created around 1831 as part of a series called Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. When we look at it, we often focus on the power of the water, but for Hokusai, the wave was a frame for the mountain. Mount Fuji represents stillness and eternity, while the crashing wave represents the fleeting, powerful moment.

In my japanese paper collage art, I find the symbolism of the wave deeply moving. It represents the wabi-sabi idea that nothing is permanent. When I recreate a wave using layers of navy and white yuzen paper, I am thinking about that tension between the eternal mountain and the moving water. The "claws" of the foam in Hokusai's original are so sharp and alive. I try to mimic that by hand-cutting tiny, jagged pieces of white washi to layer over the deep indigo base, giving the paper the same sense of reaching movement that he achieved with a woodblock.

The Red Fuji and the Power of Color

Another piece that constantly sits on my inspiration board is Fine Wind, Clear Morning, often called The Red Fuji. In this work, Hokusai captured the mountain at the very moment the rising sun turns its slopes a deep, earthy red. It is a masterpiece of minimalism.

This piece taught me how to use color to tell a story. When I am selecting chiyogami paper for a landscape, I don't just look for "red." I look for a paper that has the texture of a mountain at dawn — maybe a fiber-heavy mulberry paper with subtle flecks of gold. Hokusai showed us that you don't need a thousand details if your colors and shapes are honest. In my own Beige Gold Mountain Set, I often lean on these lessons of simplicity and bold color blocks that he pioneered nearly two centuries ago.