TERUKO YOKOI
Hinageshi
Teruko Yokoi. (b. 1924 Tsushima, Japan. d. 2020 Bern, Switzerland)
No Title (yocoll 1708) , 1991, Watercolor on Paper, 11 ¾ x 15 ¾ in.
From the collection of Rakuko Naito and Taadaki Kuwayama, I was pleased to receive a typewritten book from 1981 written by Teruko Yokoi. Entitled “HINAGESHI”, it provides a lifelong insight and poetic interpretation of her passion for the poppy flower. More than a visual motif, it had a spiritual reference and continuing memory for her. I thank Rakuko for sharing this personal gift and enduring memory.
I have known HINAGESHI, which is the Japanese name for field poppies, since the days of my childhood, and have always been attracted to its sound. The first time, when I saw them under the sky of Provence, I thought they were scarlet butterflies, playing cheerfully on the hillside, a hazy brown barley field, as their favorite playground . . . I also love the way they tuck and curl themselves up in the middle of the afternoon, and fall asleep swiftly far before the sun has set.
HINAGESHI by Teruko Yokoi, 1981, 16 pages
About the Artist
Her writings have inspired an exhibition, now in preparation, of Teruko’s watercolors for the Upstate Art Weekend opening June 25th.
