Libra, from the Zodiac Series

In his Zodiac Series, Kurosaki approached the twelve signs not as figurative symbols but as geometric distillations of their underlying qualities. Libra, the sign of balance and equilibrium, is rendered through counterpoised planes of color and form that enact the scales' logic without literally depicting them. Kurosaki's [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) method—carving and printing each block himself—gave him precise control over the crisp, hard-edged boundaries between color zones that define the series. The composition likely employs bilateral or near-bilateral symmetry, with carefully chosen hues that hold equal optical weight against one another. Multiple woodblocks would have been required to achieve the flat, unmodulated color fields characteristic of his abstract prints from this period, with each registration contributing to the cumulative geometry. The result translates an ancient astrological concept into the formal language of postwar Japanese abstraction, shaped by Kurosaki's training at the Kyoto City University of Arts and his engagement with both nihonga restraint and Western hard-edge painting.