Fairy Tales in the Shell (Ichimoku-shu Vol 2)

Published in the second volume of Ichimoku-shu — a collection of prints Onchi organized and contributed to as part of his effort to build a community around sosaku-hanga — this abstract work takes a poetic title that suggests enclosed, layered worlds within small forms. The shell as metaphor for interiority, protection, and compressed narrative aligns with Onchi's literary sensibility; he was a poet as well as a printmaker and frequently titled abstract works to evoke rather than describe. Ichimoku-shu, which translates roughly as "a single glance collection," was one of several collaborative print albums Onchi produced to circulate original creative prints among subscribers and fellow artists. The work likely employs biomorphic abstraction — curved, organic shapes that suggest natural structures without depicting them literally — printed with the controlled tonal variation and surface texture that characterize Onchi's mature woodblock technique.