Affinity

"Affinity" is a woodblock print by Sawada Tetsuro that explores the concept of connection and kinship through abstract or semi-abstract visual language. Sawada, a contemporary sosaku hanga artist, carved and printed his own blocks, maintaining direct control over every stage of production. The title suggests a meditation on bonds between people, places, or states of being, translated into the physical relationship between carved surface and printed paper. Sawada's compositions tend toward minimalist arrangements where negative space plays as active a role as printed areas. The woodblock medium, with its inherent contrast between carved-away and ink-receiving surfaces, provides a natural metaphor for affinity itself: the connection between complementary forms, the way one shape defines another through proximity and shared boundary.