The woman smiles with her head tilted to one side, an apparently unguarded moment that could have been captured by a camera. And yet, try counting the lines with which the image has been composed and it’s a mere 10 or so.
The picture was made with the copperplate engraving technique, which uses a chemical reaction capable of reproducing even brush-like strokes. It contains ample evidence of virtuosity, with apparent brush marks reminiscent of Japanese calligraphy and the placement of the motif in the upper left corner to create negative space. And yet at the fore is a deliberate lightness of touch that seems to proclaim the work was dashed off on a whim. It is, so to speak, the charm of “reduction,” and the achievement of an artist who sought for his art to be “rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.”
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)
The woman smiles with her head tilted to one side, an apparently unguarded moment that could have been captured by a camera. And yet, try counting the lines with which the image has been composed and it’s a mere 10 or so.
The picture was made with the copperplate engraving technique, which uses a chemical reaction capable of reproducing even brush-like strokes. It contains ample evidence of virtuosity, with apparent brush marks reminiscent of Japanese calligraphy and the placement of the motif in the upper left corner to create negative space. And yet at the fore is a deliberate lightness of touch that seems to proclaim the work was dashed off on a whim. It is, so to speak, the charm of “reduction,” and the achievement of an artist who sought for his art to be “rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.”
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)