Joey Han | 2022 | Illustration & Urban Studies

A Tribute to Yasujiro Ozu (Late Spring and Good Morning)

Ink (Late Spring), Colored Pencil and Watercolor (Good Morning)

Tribute to Ozu is a drawing series completed for the final project of my fall semester experimental drawing/design course at RISD. Inspired by the prolific work and iconic style of Japanese film auteur Yasujiro Ozu, I wanted to explore the relationship between composition and meaning in two of his films: Late Spring (1949) and Good Morning (1959). To do this, I created two 22'' x 60'' drawings referencing stills from the two movies to create long, architectural forms. By emphasizing the structures that framed Ozu's films, I tried to echo his focus on the permanence of environments versus the transience of the lives that exist within them.

The pieces reflect the idea of parallels in a couple ways. First, the entire composition is in homage to the use of parallel planes and lines of Japanese architecture that Ozu used to his advantage in composing his shots/stories. Second, a large focus of the piece was the parallel meaning that exists between the mundane, physical subject matter of Ozu's movies and larger abstract themes of death, family and time. I wanted to choose certain stills from the movie that contained loaded symbols, objects or moments that paralleled the broader themes explored in the films.

from Parallels, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, January 11 - February 16, 2019