The Representation of Pictorial Space in "Ukie"

K. Mende

Journal for geometry and graphics, Tome 1 (1997) no. 1, pp. 031-04.

Résumé

I analysed the methods of drawing used in the ukie picture titled, `Interior of a Kabuki Theater', which shows a playhouse, including both the audience space and the stage. The results of the analysis indicated that two different methods of drawing were used within the same picture, one-point perspective for the audience space and combined oblique projection for the stage. This is not a mere result of incorrect technique but closely related to what the artist of the picture wanted to express through the drawing. The artist was also able to create the feeling of actually being inside the theater through the use of one-point perspective and to show the content of the play through the use of combined oblique projection, thus placing emphasis on the main actors. The use of two different methods of drawing also gives a sense of movement, a shakiness, which adds tension to the scene. Space that has this tension is related to the Japanese concept of ma.