Mirror

A second composition titled "Mirror" within Onchi's output, this print explores related themes through a distinct configuration. Onchi frequently revisited subjects across multiple impressions and reworked compositions, treating the printing of each sheet as a fresh act of creation rather than an exact reproduction. Variation between impressions — in inking pressure, color choice, and registration — was embraced rather than minimized, an approach drawn from his sosaku-hanga principles. The mirror as subject lends itself to formal exploration: solid mass set against a reflective plane, the weight of an object countered by the lightness of its image. Onchi typically built such still lifes from broad shapes printed with the baren in overlapping color passes, allowing the woodgrain to register as texture across reflective surfaces. This flexibility distinguished his practice from both the shin-hanga revivalists of his era and the older ukiyo-e tradition. Each impression remained autographic: hand-carved, hand-printed, and bearing the irreducible mark of the artist himself.