Fountain of Earth #1

The first in a series exploring the concept of earth as a generative source, this woodblock print imagines geological energy as an upward force, a fountain erupting from below the surface. Masaji's "Fountain of Earth" title fuses the organic and the elemental, treating the ground not as inert matter but as a pressurized system capable of sudden release. The abstract composition likely features vertical thrust and upward-moving forms rendered through stacked or overlapping color blocks. The sosaku-hanga method, in which Masaji carved and printed every block himself, gave him physical access to the wood's grain and resistance, qualities that connect the act of printmaking to the geological forces the title invokes. Cutting into wood is itself a kind of excavation, and printing from that carved surface is a kind of impression-taking from the earth.