Mizuhiki-Ni—D

Mizuhiki-Ni--D continues Hamanishi's 1990 series investigating the ceremonial paper cords of Japanese gift culture. The "Ni" designation, second in the i-ro-ha ordering, indicates a different knot configuration or compositional arrangement than the Ha and Ro variants. Each mizuhiki knot carries codified meaning: the musubi-kiri, tied once and not meant to be undone, marks solemn occasions, while the cho-musubi bow knot suits celebrations that may happily recur. Hamanishi isolates these knotted forms against the mezzotint's black void, stripping away the context of wrapped gifts and ceremony to examine the cords as pure sculptural objects. The burnishing technique reveals every twist and crossing of the cord with an almost microscopic clarity, rendering in two dimensions an object that exists emphatically in three.