Debris of Thought or The Sound of the Tide

Produced for the 68th CWAJ Print Show in 2025, this 80 × 80 cm etching presents its dual title as a perceptual proposition rather than a fixed subject — the conjunction 'or' inviting the viewer to oscillate between reading the imagery as fragmented mental residue and as the rhythmic accumulation produced by waves on a shoreline. The square format eliminates directional emphasis, encouraging a non-narrative reading consistent with Ueta's interest in destabilizing scale and recognition. Worked from copper, the etching allows fine tonal gradation through bitten line and aquatint, with the unusually large plate demanding sustained acid control and even pressure across the bed during printing. The work extends Ueta's ongoing investigation of how printed marks register simultaneously as discrete particulate forms — debris, sediment, pulverized matter — and as continuous fields suggesting atmosphere, water, or sound. This duality echoes the scale shifts in his installation practice, where miniature diorama cities expand into room-scale environments. The print is catalogued as number 186 in the CWAJ exhibition.