My life as a dog 1

"My life as a dog 1" likely deploys the dog as autobiographical surrogate or allegorical stand-in — a framing common in narrative figurative etching, where animal figures permit psychological content to be displaced from the human body. At 100 × 78 cm, the plate occupies an unusually large copper-plate format for Japanese contemporary intaglio, requiring a press bed well beyond the studio scale typical of Kansai etchers and demanding sustained control over acid bite across a metre of plate surface. The numerical "1" in the title indicates a sequence, marking this as the opening of a thematic series rather than a standalone image. Etching at this scale concentrates attention on tonal range built through aquatint passages and bitten line, and on the registration of plate edge against the sheet. The work was selected for the 68th CWAJ Print Show in 2025, the principal annual showcase for Japanese contemporary printmaking, placing Hidaka among senior intaglio practitioners working in the Kansai region in the mid-2020s and connecting back to her foundational training at Kyoto City University of the Arts.