White Wall Reflection

A whitewashed wall and its reflection in water — the white walls of traditional Japanese architecture, made of plaster or lime-washed earth, appear throughout Tanaka's work as surfaces that register light, shadow, and the passage of time. In this 1980 etching, Tanaka focuses on the visual phenomenon of reflection, perhaps in a canal or pool, where the wall's solidity is translated into shifting aquatic light. White walls were characteristic of storehouse (kura) architecture across the Kansai region.