Camphor Tree

Camphor Tree depicts the kusunoki, an evergreen species long venerated in Japanese culture for its longevity and frequent presence at Shinto shrines, where ancient specimens are often designated sacred. Kozaki's print likely renders the tree's distinctive massing — a thick, fissured trunk supporting a dense, rounded canopy of small glossy leaves — through carefully layered key blocks and color blocks printed on washi by hand with a baren. Bokashi gradation would typically be employed to model the volumetric crown and ground shadow, while the bark's vertical fissuring suits the linear discipline of the carved key block. The print's inclusion of "saru" (monkey) in its slug suggests a small figural accent within or beneath the canopy, a compositional device that establishes scale and reinforces the tree's mythic stature. Within Kozaki's broader practice, which is dominated by the meditative Gassho series commemorating the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, subjects drawn from the natural and spiritual landscape of Japan represent a quieter register — one that draws on the same contemplative attention to surface, silence, and reverence that defines his memorial work.