Richard Steiner

Artist's comments ... This is the second in a series of Banner prints by Richard Keith Steiner, Kyoto.

The paper is a mixture of mitsumata and pulp, sized on both sides. Pigments are watercolors and opaques. Nine boards, 11 colors.

The man in the foreground is alarmed at something, presumably the banners, but they are, in fact, not a threat. They are only puppies. "Puppies" is a word heard in places on the West Coast of America which can mean that a thing is not all that important; also, that an act can be accomplished quickly, and then left alone while moving on to other things; or, it can also be used to mean "things."

The first Banner print, twice larger than this one, used banners to mean that something had been irrevocably lost. The third Banner print, one/third the size of Only Puppies, is also a cautionary work, implying an event or thing hidden from view.

Further explanation may be impossible.