Dance and be Danced

The reciprocal verb construction in the Japanese title — 踊り踊られ, literally 'to dance and be danced' — points to a subject caught in mutual motion rather than a single performing figure, the active and passive voices folded into one phrase. At 154 × 85 cm the print sits in the middle of Kobayashi's 2025 large-format vertical group alongside 'Cornerstone,' and the format suits a standing or full-length figure in arrested movement. Mokuhanga's water-based pigments, brushed onto the block and absorbed into dampened washi under baren pressure, yield soft edges and overlapping translucent layers well suited to the suggestion of motion or doubled silhouettes; the technique does not produce the hard, opaque registration of oil-based relief printing. The thematic preoccupation with reciprocity and the body in relation to its surroundings is characteristic of Kobayashi's emerging vocabulary, and the piece was shown alongside 'Cornerstone' and 'Under the Light' as part of his selection at the 68th CWAJ Print Show.