Division work No. 36

Division — Work No. 36 sits earlier in Hamanishi's Division sequence than No. 49, though both share the series's defining compositional logic: a horizontal partitioning of the plate into bands that each contain an isolated natural specimen rendered against mezzotint's characteristic deep black. The numbering is a visible record of the artist's decades-long return to the format. In No. 36, the choice of subject within each division — likely leaves, seeds, or other small botanical fragments observed at close range — is set off by the burnished highlights that emerge from the rocker-prepared ground. The division structure invites comparison across compartments: variations of edge, vein, or texture, each form treated with botanical exactitude. Mezzotint's tonal continuum, from absolute black through every gradation of gray to bare paper, makes the medium suited to this kind of comparative cataloguing. The series as a whole positions Hamanishi within the postwar Japanese revival of intaglio printmaking led by Yozo Hamaguchi.