#167 Considering Lao-tse (2)

The reference is to Laozi, the foundational figure of Daoism, and the parenthetical "(2)" marks this as the second meditation on the theme within the sequence. Daoist thought — its valuation of emptiness, the uncarved block, action through non-action — maps unusually well onto Hayashi's sparse intaglio surfaces, in which the unworked areas of the plate carry as much weight as the etched and drypoint marks. A 2012 sheet at #167 likely shows the restraint of his mature practice: limited bitten line, the inked bevel of the plate, possibly a single chine-collé element of gampi inset against the larger sheet. Rather than illustrate Laozi's text, prints titled "Considering" in Hayashi's series tend to register the activity of thought as graphic event — marks that propose, retreat, reconsider. The pairing of a Chinese philosophical source with Japanese paper and a Western intaglio process is consistent with the cross-tradition position that defines this body of work.