Higanbana 03

Higanbana flowers grow in large clumps around rivers and rice paddies. It's amazing to see them all in full bloom. However, they are in fact poisonous. In this painting I wanted to depict a woman that is sensitive and delicate like the flower but also powerful as represented by the red colour.

Higanbana 02

 In this piece I designed a necklace and bracelet from the Higanbana motive in my previous pieces under the same theme.  The bracelet uses a tradition golden laquer pattern. The necklace uses a pattern inspired by a "dragonfly ball" or traditional Japanese glass marble. The red pattern in the ball is inspired from coral.

Higanbana 01

During the Higan holiday in Japan, it is common to give botamochi, a Japanese sweet using Azuki beans, as an offering to ones ancestors. However, in recent years, people tend to give more varied offerings including what the deceased used to like eating or drinking. In this picture, I drew a bottle of sake as an offering with the Higan flower motive on it.

In Japan, the Autumn equinox is referred to by Buddhists as Higan. Higan is a flower but also in Buddhism it symbolises "the other side" which is a metaphor for leaving the world of confusion and desire behind and crossing over to the other side of enlightenment. It is also a metaphor for the afterlife. During Higan, people pay their respects to their ancestors by leaving botamochi, a kind of Japanese sweet made from red bean paste. This is to nourish one's ancestors in the afterlife.