Peculiar Creature
Shalinka
BY THE LAKE
This is one of Shalinka's more ambitious pieces using the Ukiyo-e technique. The abstraction of the water into what seem like crystalline shards becomes anthropomorphized in her depiction of a water dragon; this same effect is echoed in the cherry blossom trees lining the shore. I actually find these two elements to be the most interesting parts of the picture. As these wild flowing forms become defined by lines and arrive at recognizable figures, they are no longer in that indeterminate stage which is in some ways the most exciting aspect of art.
There is one other notable stylistic feature of By The Lake which elevates it, and that is Shali's use of traditional Japanese wave forms to further blur the boundaries between caricature and expression. She uses this at each corner of the picture; thus, not only do the waves recede into spiraling fern-like shapes, but so too do the mountains and the cherry blossoms. Without this mischievous touch, this image would have had most of one's visual attention centered on the maiden and the dragon, and a lot of the power of the piece would have been lost. Instead, the bold and drastically different style pulls one's gaze outwards, while the protagonists in the center bear enough visual weight to continuously draw one's eye back in. This mimics the swirling and crashing of waves against the immutability of the earth, and is what makes By The Lake so enticing.
