Akira Kurosaki - 虚の軌跡 (Traces in a Void)

Modern | Sōsaku Hanga Woodblock Print

A fabulous print by Akira Kurosaki: 虚の軌跡 (Traces in a Void). Printed in a striking corner-to-corner diamond format, nine repeated square panels form a 3 × 3 grid across the image. Each contains a dark tapered wisps emerging from black and charcoal gradients, crossed by pale, flowing traces that appear to drift from one panel into the next. The restricted palette of black, grey and silver gives the work a stark, almost weightless quality, while the repetition creates a strong visual rhythm across the square composition. Kurosaki’s 1982 Traces series, and one of its most formally distinctive images. ◼️◻️

• Year & Edition: 1982 · Ed. of 50 (21/50) (signed & titled in pencil to plate).
• Medium: Woodblock. 7 blocks, 5 colours. Printed on Echizen Torinoko paper*.
• Dimensions: Sheet approx H: 67.50 cm × W: 67.00 cm (Image H: 55.00 cm × W: 54.50 cm).
• Condition: A lovely crisp impression. Unmarked & unblemished. Light surface handling to margin.
• Notes: Traces in a Void belongs to Kurosaki’s important Traces series of 1981-82. Impressions are held by the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama and the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. *Artist watermark to margins. Raisonné No. 314, (W298). 黒崎彰の全仕事 (The Complete Works of Akira Kurosaki: Catalogue Raisonné 1965-2006).

About the Artist

Akira Kurosaki (1937-2019) was a pioneering mokuhanga artist who fused traditional Japanese woodblock techniques with bold abstraction and surreal landscapes, rendered in his signature deep reds, purples and blacks. A graduate of the Kyoto Institute of Technology and devoted to the sōsaku hanga ethos - overseeing every stage of production himself - he earned the Florence Biennale Gold Prize and Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure. From 1987 he taught and led the Printmaking Department at Kyoto Seika University, mentoring a generation of printmakers; his work is held by the British Museum, MoMA and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. [ ← View All Works by Akira Kurosaki]