Indian Corn Plants

The painting allowed the artist to demonstrate his skills in the tarashikomi technique and to make subtle references to Sōtatsu’s works. These hints include the contrasting colors of the plant leaves as well as the blue-tinted gold color on the right and the pure gold color on the left. There is a strong resemblance to the powerful use of color in Sōtatsu’s The Gods of Wind and Thunder (Kenninji, Kyoto). Similar to Sōtatsu, Kokei took the delicate forms he saw in nature and gave them a stately elegance.

His technical explorations were not limited to imitations of Sōtatsu and other Rinpa painters. Like other artists of his day, Kokei used styles as well as materials from East Asian and Western painting traditions.