Transition 1

Transition 1 (Utsuroi 1) is a 99 × 76 cm lithograph executed by Kawarai in 2025 and selected for the 68th CWAJ Print Show. The Japanese title うつろい carries connotations of gradual change — the fading of light across a surface, the shift of colour as seasons turn, or the dissolution of one form into another — a theme rooted in classical Japanese aesthetic vocabulary connected to mono no aware. The lithographic medium suits this subject: unlike woodblock printmaking, where the carved matrix produces firm contours, lithography permits continuous tonal gradation, atmospheric washes, and the layering of crayon and tusche marks across multiple stones or plates. Kawarai's choice of large format allows passages of subtle gradation to register at a scale typically reserved for painting. Numbered as the first in what appears to be an ongoing series, the work signals a sustained investigation rather than an isolated image. Its inclusion in the CWAJ exhibition — a long-running survey of contemporary Japanese printmaking — situates Kawarai within the lineage of Tokyo Zokei University's lithography stream, alongside earlier graduates working in extended tonal and atmospheric registers.