Quail and poppies after Hiroshige

‘Quail and Poppies (after Hiroshige)’ distills Michelle Molinari’s practice of delicate reconstruction and reassembly. Drawing from Utagawa Hiroshige’s Kachō-e (bird-and-flower prints), she meticulously recreates the compositional grace of Edo-period printmaking while introducing her own symbolic interventions. A lone quail balances on a vibrant stem, its alert posture juxtaposed against the limp body of another below. The rich crimson of the poppies intensifies the sense of fleeting beauty, evoking a dreamlike stillness that speaks to Molinari’s enduring fascination with time and transience.