Paper Stories with Blue Tones
紙を語る、
青で語る色々。
Talking about papers
Telling various stories in different blue tone
with a part of Japanese printing history.
ARTISTS BOOK: 17×11×1 cm / 16 pages + cover ＋ a bag
Print works: LAND 34 (Quattro Ragazzi)(2014), RIO DOURO (2014), TANEGASHIMA (2014), NAGASAKI (2015) and SAKITSU (2015) plus JESUS and four PUTTI (2020).
Printmaking techniques: copy-etching, aquatint, drypoint, woodcut printing and Inkjet print.
Papers: Japanese Sekishu Kozo, Sekishu Gampi, Omi colour Gampi, Tosa Gampi, Awagami Kitakata paper (Philippine Gampi) and Hahnemühle German Etching paper.
The prints are based on maps of Venice, Nagasaki, Sakitsu, Tanegashima and Porto, which places I did visit except for Tanegashima. The texts about each town are my personal records and are not expressed as actual reading. The etching design on ‘Quattro Ragazzi’ for the four boys of the Japanese embassy on the book cover came from a German 'newspaper' (Newe Zeyttung) describing a Japanese ‘embassy’ organized by the Society of Jesus. One copper engraving which is produced in Japan in the early 1590s by Japanese people, is kept in Nagasaki and is after the Flemish engraving St. Anna-te Drieën (Antwerp 1584). The images of Jesus and the putti after the original print appear next with my etchings of the Nanban series as important elements in this Artist’s book. I used the copy from the cover and one page from ‘Hara Martino's Speech’ (16 pages) printed by japanese printer Constantino Dourado, because I wanted to leave his name as part of Japanese printing history. He was travelling together with the four boys as member of the important mission. Also considering the design of my book, I made the 16 pages at almost the same format of about 11x17cm.
