animals 14

A 25 × 25 cm lithograph from 2025, 'animals 14' is the fourteenth entry in an ongoing numbered series in which Isozaki returns to animal subjects as a recurring formal problem. The square format — uncommon among traditional Japanese print sizes such as oban or chuban — is a contemporary choice that gives equal weight to vertical and horizontal axes and allows the figure to sit centrally within a self-contained field. As a lithograph rather than a moku hanga work, the print is produced by drawing directly onto a stone or plate, a planographic process that retains the touch and density variation of the artist's hand more directly than relief printing with a baren on washi. The numbering of the series ('14') indicates an investigative practice in which a single subject is reworked across multiple states or compositions, a methodology consistent with the printmaking pedagogy of the Tama Art University program in which Isozaki trained. The work was selected for the 68th CWAJ Print Show 2025, placing it within the principal juried channel for contemporary Japanese printmaking.