Korakuen, Okayama  –  Memory of Japan

Korakuen, Okayama – Memory of Japan is an oil painting inspired by one of Japan’s most celebrated landscape gardens. The composition focuses on the calm geometry of the pond, where submerged stones and soft reflections create a quiet dialogue between water, vegetation, and architecture. The balanced perspective invites the viewer into a moment of stillness and contemplation.

Through subtle variations of green and blue, the painting explores the relationship between nature and human design that defines traditional Japanese gardens. Light plays gently on the water’s surface, blurring boundaries between reflection and reality, while the surrounding trees frame the scene with a sense of harmony and restraint.

Created by Virginie Martin Blaise, this work belongs to the Memory of Japan series, which reflects the artist’s personal experience of place and atmosphere. Rather than depicting a site as a postcard image, the painting translates memory, sensation, and calm observation into a contemplative visual language..