Master of a Dragon Hurried on Her Way Home

Master of a Dragon Hurried on Her Way Home centers on one of Asahi's signature protagonists — a female figure paired with a dragon, treated not as a slayer or saint but as a keeper or companion, framed here in motion. The titular hurry suggests narrative compression: the dragon-master is in mid-passage, perhaps trailed by atmospheric or environmental marks that aquatint renders well as graduated tonal sweeps. Etched line carries the figure's contours and the articulated form of the dragon, while aquatint supplies the surrounding ambiance. Asahi's dragon-masters belong to a private mythology she has stated does not correspond to any specific traditional Japanese tale; the figures, beings, and creatures in her prints exist only inside her own invented world. The female protagonist who directs or accompanies a dragon is among her most repeated subjects, and over more than two decades these recurring characters have given her body of work an internal coherence that print collectors recognize. The plate would have been issued in a small signed and numbered intaglio edition.