Flying Over Cuzco Peru is the work of artist Chizuko Yoshida, born in Yokohama, Japan. Yoshida started painting at a very young age, but her career was cut short due to the second World War, which forced her to evacuate. Once the war had ended, she returned to Tokyo to continue her art. There, she met her husband, who influenced her switch from painting to printmaking. Marrying into her husband’s family allowed her to travel internationally, which became influential in her work. Flying Over Cuzco Peru was based on her time abroad. Yoshida’s woodblock prints often feature a naturalist aesthetic combined with Japanese modernism. In this work, there’s a contrast between the natural world and urban life, as the bird flies over the city below. This scene is serene as the bird shows the aerial view of man-made buildings in nature.

Melinde Madsen ’21