wa

The title carries dual meanings in Japanese — 和 (harmony, accord, the traditional designation for Japan itself) and 輪 (ring, wheel, circle) — both resonant within Japanese aesthetic vocabulary. Sharing identical 51 × 66 cm dimensions with its companion 'en,' the work participates in what reads as a deliberate compositional pair, the two titles forming a conceptual rhyme around circularity and relation. Naganuma's hybrid intaglio process combines etching, aquatint, and drypoint on a single plate, allowing movement between graphic line and atmospheric tone within a unified field. Aquatint provides the granular density characteristic of bitten rosin grounds, while drypoint contributes the soft, ink-laden burr that distinguishes the technique from pure etching. Born in Nagano in 1998 and now working in Tokyo, Naganuma is among the youngest Japanese printmakers represented in the 2025 CWAJ Print Show catalogue. His inclusion of three works in a single CWAJ catalogue — an unusual concentration for an emerging artist — situates him as a defined presence within the current generation of Japanese intaglio practice.