The Great Wave, Shattered

May 18, 2026

What it is about

Hokusai's iconic wave fragments and drifts, revealing the raw power beneath its serene surface.

How it was made

Started with "Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)" from Met Open Access, then transformed through the studio pipeline into the final static image. The source link(s) and final output are listed below.

This visual form exists to explore the inherent tension between the static nature of a print and the dynamic, destructive force it depicts. By shattering the image, we emphasize the wave's energy as it breaks apart, not just the visual form. Felix created a source-based generated composite using Recraft/Recraft v4 Pro and OpenRouter-image. The source image, 'Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura),' from the series 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji' by Katsushika Hokusai, was retrieved from The Met Open Access, a public-domain source. The original image was broken into irregular polygonal fragments, which were then given a subtle, randomized outward translation and minimal rotation to create a sense of dynamic disarray, preserving the original ink and color.

Source images

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) — Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) by Katsushika Hokusai (ca. 1830–32) — H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 · public-domain