Shotō (Early Winter)

Description

Nakazawa Shin'ichi
Japanese, born 1956
Shotô (Early Winter)
Heisei period (1989–present)
2003
Etching with applied platinum leaf on paper
Museum purchase made possible by Jane and Ken Lieberthal, 2004/1.150 

Nakazawa was born in Tokyo and at the age of nineteen he taught himself copperplate etching. This process involves taking a metal plate and covering it in an acid-resistant substance (the ground). The artist then etches lines into the ground to expose the metal, and covers the plate with an acid that partially erodes the metal where the artist has created lines. The plate is then covered in ink and wiped off, so that the ink remains only in these lines, and the plate and paper are put through a press and the paper picks up the ink. What makes Nakazawa’s prints unique is that he developed a technique that combined the etching process with additions of metal leaf (extremely thin sheets of precious metals such as gold, silver, or platinum) to the surface of the prints. His vocabulary of forms consists primarily of geometric shapes, often accompanied by classic Japanese writing.