Yūzen Process

The Yuzen process — Japan's most celebrated technique for painting elaborate designs on silk fabric — involves the application of resist paste, dyeing through successive layers of color, and the washing away of resist in running water. Kitaoka's 1969 depiction of this craft process, rendered in ink and color on paper, captures one of the most visually dramatic stages: the bolts of brilliantly colored silk being washed in a river, the fabric flowing in the current as the resist is removed, revealing the final design. The subject allowed him to engage directly with the textile craft tradition of his home prefecture.