Supernova

Supernova, dated 2025, takes as its subject a stellar explosion — the violent ejection of matter when a massive star exhausts its nuclear fuel. Etching and aquatint are used here to render the radiating, expansive energy of such an event in print form. Aquatint grounds can evoke the deep black of interstellar space while bitten lines describe the shock waves and luminous ejecta extending outward from the central burst. The title participates in a broader tendency among contemporary Japanese printmakers to engage with astronomical scale as a counterpoint to the intimate scale of the printed sheet. As one of Hamada's most recent dated works, Supernova suggests an ongoing interest in phenomena at the outer limits of human observation, rendered with the controlled acid-bite techniques of intaglio printmaking.