Figure 6

Figure 6 is part of a numbered series in which 'figure' carries the dual meaning of visual form and an abstract character or sign — consistent with Maki Haku's sustained interest in kanji-derived imagery. The sixth figure in the sequence suggests an investigation of a specific formal archetype iterated across variations. Maki's figures from this period are typically monumental in scale relative to the sheet, occupying the center ground as dense, almost architectonic masses built through his composite block technique. The embossed element would have been pressed into the washi under substantial pressure, leaving the figure simultaneously printed and physically sculpted into the paper. Works in this series often limit their palette to one or two colors, allowing the relief's own shadow gradations to supply tonal complexity.