Private-7

A second entry in the "Private" series, Private-7 belongs to a sequence whose numbering tracks Yoshikawa's continuing private formal investigations rather than a developing narrative. The print would consist of stacked color planes printed from individually carved cherry blocks, each registered against the next by [kento](/glossary/kento) marks cut into the block edge. Shapes in the Private prints tend toward geometric or hybrid biomorphic forms — circles, arcs, irregular polygons — held in tension across the sheet without resolving into recognizable figuration. Yoshikawa's use of water-based pigments on [washi](/glossary/washi) yields flat color fields with a soft matte finish; the effect depends on the absorbency of the paper and the pressure applied through the [baren](/glossary/baren) rather than on surface gloss. Among Japanese mokuhanga artists working today, Yoshikawa's commitment to fully abstract composition is uncommon; the Private series is the strand of her output framed as personal formal experiment rather than as commentary or depiction.