Lullaby of the Ripples

In 'Lullaby of the Ripples,' Matsuoka turns the burin to a subject of quiet observation — concentric or interlocking patterns spreading across a still water surface. The vertical 38 × 30 cm format and the white-line, end-grain technique suit such a subject: in wood engraving the artist cuts away what will read as white, leaving the inked block surface to print as a dense black ground, an inversion of the relief logic that governs plank-grain mokuhanga. Tonal gradation is built through stippling, parallel cuts, and varied line weight rather than through bokashi or layered impressions. The contemplative title — characteristic of Matsuoka's wider output, where small-format works carry meditative subjects — frames the ripples less as a documentary record than as a visual analogue for stillness and pattern. The print was shown in the 68th CWAJ Print Show 2025, an exhibition that since 1956 has surveyed Japanese printmaking across techniques, and its inclusion places Matsuoka's self-taught, European-derived practice alongside the dominant mokuhanga tradition. The piece typifies his register: small-scale, monochrome, and concerned with everyday natural phenomena.