Owl in the Velvet Woods

The owl is a recurring motif throughout Ando's work, and Owl in the Velvet Woods isolates the bird within a forest setting whose tonal density the title likens to velvet — a register suited to the deep, plush blacks that aquatint produces in intaglio practice. Etched line defines the owl's plumage and the surrounding branches, while chine collé inserts can sit behind selected forms to introduce papery contrasts of warmth or pattern against the dark ground. Hand colouring is generally restrained in Ando's nocturnal forest pieces, often limited to the bird's eyes and small accents in the foliage. The 2016 date places the print in a phase when Ando's nature-focused subjects became more compositionally pared back than her interior scenes, with single creatures suspended in atmospheric grounds rather than crowded among objects. The treatment extends the macabre-storybook tradition she draws from while remaining distinct from the kacho-e bird-and-flower lineage of Japanese woodblock.