Weeping Cherry 13

Weeping Cherry 13 is the thirteenth entry in Namiki's series devoted to shidare-zakura, the cultivated cherry whose pendulous branches make it a distinct subject within his broader cherry-blossom output. The print centers a single specimen against a calm graduated ground, the carved keyblock following the long, falling lines of the trunk and limbs while successive color blocks deposit pale pink blossom in soft, atmospheric masses. Bokashi gradations carry the background tone and accentuate the silhouette of the tree without locating it in a specific landscape. The work is hand-carved and printed by the artist on washi with water-based pigments and the baren, in keeping with sosaku-hanga practice. Weeping cherries occupy a particular place in Japanese arboreal iconography, often planted at temples, shrines, and aristocratic estates and individually named when very old. Namiki's numbered series treats each iteration as a return to the same form under altered conditions, paralleling the way Tree Scene works function as ongoing variations rather than discrete subjects, and consolidating the weeping cherry as one of his core motifs.