For Morioka the first step in the creation of one of his prints is the installation of his own scenery at the seashore, preferably on a cold winter day when the wind rages and the sky is turbulent against a setting sun. He chooses the seaside because for him the water is the single horizon representing the beginning and end of the world. Into nature's expanse of sky, sea and sand Morioka intrudes with his own archetypal edifice, and the ensuing drama between his edifice and the forces of nature is the focus of his art.
Like the artist Iwami, he seems to see an analogy between music and water. A recent series of prints similar to this one was entitled 'Beethoven at the beach', with a layer of musical notations printed across the sea and sky.
Morioka was born in 1941 in Aichi Prefecture where he still lives, and is a graduate of the Aichi University of Education.
Jackie Menzies, Contemporary Japanese Prints: The Urban Bonsai, 1992, pg. 64.