The seventh work in Nakazawa's Tattoo series is produced in pure etching, without metal leaf, a material choice that sets it apart from most of his other series and focuses attention entirely on the intaglio surface. Tattoo invites analogy between two inscription systems: the permanent marking of skin with pigment-laden needles, and the acid-mediated incision of a copper plate. Both processes embed marks beneath a surface — into dermis, into metal — and both produce images that are simultaneously wound and decoration. The calligraphic elements in this series likely appear as marks that have been driven into the plate with particular intensity, the lines carrying the pressure and irreversibility associated with tattooing. Without the interruption of metal leaf, the composition reads as a purely graphic encounter between line, acid, and paper.
Tattoo VII was created by Shinichi Nakazawa (中澤慎一).
Tattoo VII uses Etching, on etching.
Tattoo VII depicts calligraphy and abstract.
Tattoo VII measures 53.3 × 64.8 cm.
