Small Path in Garden

Small Path in Garden, printed in 1970 as an artist's proof, presents the narrow walkway that winds through a traditional Japanese garden — the komichi that appeared as a formal series subject the same year. The artist's proof designation indicates this was a working impression made for Hashimoto's own review rather than for distribution, giving it a particular intimacy and directness. The garden path as subject invited his characteristic attention to how built structure — the stones, their spacing, their relationship to the moss or gravel surrounding them — organized movement through a composed landscape.