When We Arrive at the Jupiter (II)

The second print in Machida's Jupiter sequence, continuing the meditation on planetary arrival begun in the first. Variant prints in sōsaku-hanga practice often allow the artist to revisit a composition with altered color registration, modified blocks, or a shifted vantage — a process Machida controls entirely himself from carving through printing. The Roman numeral suggests either a recarved key block or a reworking of the same plates with different inking strategies, perhaps shifting the perspective on Jupiter's atmospheric bands or introducing a moon, ring, or spacecraft element absent from the first impression. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) remains central to rendering the planet's banded cloud structure, applied to the block before each pull with the [baren](/glossary/baren) on dampened [washi](/glossary/washi). Within Machida's catalogue, paired or numbered prints recur across his landscape and figure subjects as well, indicating a working method in which a motif is allowed to develop across multiple plates rather than being resolved in a single composition. The astronomical theme reflects his background as a scientist before turning to the print medium.