833

This 1983 woodblock print, catalog number 833, follows immediately after work 832 in Funasaka's sequential numbering, suggesting the two prints may have been conceived as a pair or as successive explorations of a closely related compositional idea. The near-simultaneous numbering invites comparison between the two works, with differences in color choice, geometric arrangement, or spatial organization revealing the artist's thought process as he moved from one solution to the next. Funasaka's practice of creating closely related variations allowed him to exhaustively investigate the possibilities of a given formal premise before moving on to new territory. The woodblock medium's requirement that each color be carved on a separate block and printed in sequence gives even these closely related works distinct material characters, as the alignment and pressure of each printing pass introduces controlled variation.