Like the nearby woodcut by Juan Battista Dell’Acqua, this woodblock print by Japanese Canadian artist Naoko Matsubara employs black and white lines to evoke a sacred space. In this case, it’s the communal and often hushed gathering space of Quakers, a religion devoted to peaceful principles, rejecting any type of formal ministry in favor of internal contemplation. The artist’s father was a priest at a Shinto temple in Kyoto, and religious spaces have featured often in her work.

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