Plancton

An abstract composition from Toshi Yoshida's modernist period, when he extended mokuhanga technique into non-representational territory. Beginning around 1952 Toshi produced abstract prints drawing on natural microscopic forms; 'Plancton' takes its title from the organic shapes of marine plankton, rendered as overlapping color fields and linear elements pulled from successive cherry-wood blocks. The image likely exploits the irregularity of woodgrain and the layering possibilities specific to woodblock printing, where each impression carries the trace of carving and paper texture. Toshi's abstracts retained the studio's traditional materials — washi paper, baren-burnished impressions, hand-mixed pigments — while abandoning depictive subject matter, an approach that aligned him with the sosaku-hanga creative print movement even as he continued to operate his father's professional workshop in Shimoochiai. The 'Plancton' print belongs to a body of biologically themed abstracts that included compositions referencing cells, crystals, and other microscopic structures, paralleling the formal abstractions of contemporaries such as Onchi Koshiro.