Departure

Departure draws on Hodaka's vocabulary of layered geometric forms and saturated color fields to evoke movement and transition without specific narrative anchor. The composition likely combines circular, rectangular, and angular shapes — recurring elements in his abstract work from the 1960s onward — printed from carved blocks on [washi](/glossary/washi) using the [baren](/glossary/baren) technique inherited from his father's studio. Hodaka often integrated photo-etched or silkscreened passages alongside traditional mokuhanga, producing prints whose layered surfaces carry both hand-printed warmth and mechanical precision. The thematic suggestion of departure aligns with the broader trajectory of his career, marked by frequent travel through Mexico, Guatemala, Indonesia, India, and Nepal, journeys that fed his image bank with architectural details, calligraphic signs, and geometric pattern. Where his father Hiroshi rendered specific landscapes in carefully observed perspective, Hodaka extracted abstract structure from his travels, distilling places and moments into formal arrangements rather than topographical records.