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 remains central to rendering the planet's banded cloud structure, applied to the block before each pull with the baren on dampened 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.