Detail from "Sunset in Autumn"
(秋の夕日), 1976

Went to the SEIMIYA Naobumi (清宮質文) exhibition at the Yokousuka Museum of Art on the weekend. Even if you're in Kanagawa, it's a serious trip to get out there (you have to ride a bus), but well worth it. There are several high-quality books collecting Seimiya's work, but you really have to see that woodgrain stamped on rough-faced fiber to get the full effect.

You could say the same for regular painting or any kind of visual art, I suppose, but Seimiya seems to have been more concerned than most artists with allowing his process to show through in the finished product, like a rung bell, fading but still half-heard. Seimiya: "The difference between a print and a picture you draw is like the difference between playing a musical instrument and singing." (版画と直接描く絵との違いは器楽と声楽の違いのようだ。)

Some links: "Bird on a black night" (黒夜の鳥), various pieces (my favorite from the ones there is "Seaside in September" (九月の海辺) -- third row on the right), three with close-ups (the three in the top row are by KOMAI Tetsurō, not Seimiya).