1.
ATENTION, PLEASE

1983
52 × 36 cm

This print was created in 1997 after I had quit working for a company in Kyoto to return to printmaking. I was impressed by the other workers in that company, their dedication to their jobs despite the very hard work. What also impressed me was their “dedication” to materialism, to sensualism which some of them especially had. That bothered me to the point that I had to make this print as a counter balance to or critique of their attitude. The text strongly berates this attitude. I carved the colors in soft shina-linden wood and the text in the harder magnolia.

(2007.11 wrote)

2.
Two thirsty fish

1996
24 × 35 cm

This is a print from 1996, made shortly after I returned to Japan from a one-month long sketching trip in Greece. The plate which the two lovers are lying upon has an old Greek design, copied from one I saw in a museum. The letter above the pair is a long list of Greek and Roman gods' names, minus their first initials. Hidden in this maze is a message any pair of lovers would know. I am especially please with the way the light gray background came out: reduce the amount of paste you add to the pigment on the board, and you cannot help but get this effect.

(2008.01 wrote)

3.
It was one of those kind of days

2008
20 × 30 cm

This is the newest print, made at the end of January, 2008. The woman has had an especially hard day, but the face doesn’t necessarily show this. What were those difficult episodes, we wonder. We have to look closely to find the clues, and then interpret them using the SV2, Steiner Visual Vocabulary. While her face is calm, around her reigns chaos. There are those souls which have the same or similar feelings after experiencing a particularly trying day at home, in the office, or on a trip. Loaded down with cares, making our way thru confusion, oddness all around; who wouldn’t feel challenged? Nevertheless, remaining calm in the surrounding storm is the way of the mature individual.

(2008.03 wrote)

4.
INDECISION

2008
29 × 37 cm

The title was a very long time in coming. In fact, the print was done, with only a space beneath the picture for the title to be eventually carved in. At last, it arrived to my imagination, and was added to the work. But, as usual, don’t ask me about the piece’s meaning. I don’t know. Who is that person standing behind the banner? What do the images on the banner represent? The empty chair? The poster on an easel? The stone water basin on the left? The only thing I can say is that the clouds are in the style currently drawn. They are man-made clouds, so this scene is in the far future, a time which appears in most of my recent prints. So, this is another comment on what we may experience decades or centuries from now.

(2008.07 wrote)

5.
Yam-Ydolem thinks you are beautiful, too

2007
26 × 30 cm

This print represents my opinion that no matter how strange or unusual someone may appear to be, they probably are truly kind and generous individuals. Life is sometimes like a circus, both real and unreal at the same time. Nevertheless, let’s keep an open mind towards everyone we meet in every circumstance, to enjoy the moment we share together with love.

(2008.10 wrote)

6.
Not Jim, Not Bob, Not Jon

2009
10 × 25 cm

As an artist, I depend a great deal on inspiration for my creative output. This print is an excellent case in point. Not only did the images come suddenly, but the titles also appeared equally quickly, without any effort. This is not the usual case. I often labor over titles, trying to find the one that best extends the meaning of the print. So, to tell the truth, I was very surprise this time. I do not understand the meaning of either. Who are these three men, if not Jim, Bob or Jon?

(2010.02 wrote)

7.
Looked out upon the world

2010
36 × 52 cm

Made in the spring of 2010, it continues one of the themes I am most interested in: a future world and its conditions. Here, the trees have more overt personalities than nowadays, with moods similar to what humans experience. Humans are more or less the same. However, looking into this world from another existence through a ship’s porthole is someone who is rather surprised at what is found. His/her hair is flying backwards; could be from the wind over the ocean, too? This person’s eyes are quite small, implying here that seeing may not always be thru the eyes, but might be otherwise. We do not know for sure. The old ways and today’s broken acquirements have been scuttled and fenced in; another empty fence is awaiting a load of more useless things.

(2010.11 wrote)

2011
45 × 30 cm

Here is a common living room, with a look and feel of the 1950s. Someone is sitting on this great big sofa, probably looking at the painting on the wall. In this painting we can find a message that is repeated somewhat in the print itself. The sitter's legs and the nearly dead tree on the side are saying the same thing as we can see in the painting. But the tree is trying to live again, in a second life, perhaps we can say. The box up high on the shelf is out of reach for nearly everyone. Nearby is the sun/ceiling light. There is a tension to this print despite its initial seeming sweetness and innocence. There are 17 colors; an edition of 5.

(2011.09 wrote)

9.
With Mom

2011
52 x 37 cm

Evening, Mom and daughter are returning thru the city homeward. The little girl is happy and secure to be with Mom. There’s not much to see, so her head is filled with the images and thoughts children have, all floating in the void above the pair in gold and white, which are the colors of innocence and purity.

(2015.06 wrote)

10.
RU-4-T, 2/IC-Y

2014
36 x 53 cm

This is one of my most difficult prints to understand. It is one in the on-going series of works dealing with the far future of human existance. Here, we see a animal-like ship on a rough sea fishing for the darker blue fish just below the surface. Inside the ship are the passengers, seen thru the row of windows. When the fish are caught, they are prepared in the gray factory part of the ship. It is tea time. But suddenly the ship is attacked by a swarm of much smaller silver planes, causing the ship to change its attention from the fish to the attackers. No time for tea. The title can read "Are you for tea, too? Oh, I see why". But I wrote the title in machine or computer or robot language. Written communications have already started to change.

(2015.09 wrote)

11.
On the eighth day

2001
59 × 83 cm

As for my print, On the Eighth Day, I was inspired to make such a work for reasons at the time I did not know. This often happens to me now in my more experienced years. Then, a few months later, 9/11 happened, and the meaning of the print became clear. A renegade offshoot of a large, organized religion (typified by the three religious symbols on the bug's forehead), acting out of fear and misunderstanding, caused the death of thousands, and property destruction in the millions of dollars. Its believers are captives of fear and lies (the faces in the eyes), yet they cannot escape if they wanted to. The insect, a life-form I actually have liked from childhood, was not chosen knowingly by myself; it came almost of its own. The cosmos "windows" on the bug's body represent the vast reach of evil in the material world. The two towers coming out of the bug's head are the twin towers. The title refers to the Bible's first chapter, of course, where God creates the heavens and the earth, both spiritually perfect and harmonious. Only after God's seven day's worth of work was done, so to speak, did evil have a chance to show itself. God certainly did not make evil or error. Man, misinterpreting God's work, imagined materialism, and has suffered from this thereafter. So much of my artwork dwells on this theme and related themes. On my homepage there are shown some prints in this venue; mostly they deal with what our future may look like, for good and for bad.

(2016.06 wrote)

12.
Gray Ears

1980
45 × 37 cm

This is perhaps the most important print I have made. It is a self-portrait, even tho the figure seems to be a little girl. The important feature here is what the girl is pointing at. The small item in the lower right corner is my version of the thin, narrow wooden board that is placed behind the tombstones in Japanese Buddhist cemeteries. On this board is written the death name of the departed. What I am saying in this print is that while traveling on trains, buses, or waiting in lines, and eavesdropping on the conversations around me, inevitably the talk is of the speakers’ friends who are sick or have died. Death and illness are the top topics, and my ears turn gray by listening to this boring subject repeatedly.

(2020.05 wrote)

13.
Idle flowering

1983
52 × 36 cm

An unusual flower growing in a gravy boat. Looking closely, we can see a couple levels of activity going on. At the top are naked people playing. Some, however, are falling downward, following others who have gone before, into a red area. There, they are being cut into pieces. What is going on here? If we chose to live a life of sensualism, all sex play and greed, we should not be surprised if we suffer for it. The red thread hanging on the flower reinforces this idea; it’s a reference to the 15th century Japanese Buddhist priest Ikkyu Sojun’s teaching about the red thread of sensualism. Adabana means sterile, vane, ephemeral, content-less, empty materialism.

(2020.07 wrote)

13.
Immature of the Species

1981
55 × 46 cm

This is a companion print to Gray Ears, tho it does not deal with death. Here, looking closely, we can see many hearts. The theme, then, is Love. The immaturity of the bird reflects its innocence about and trust in love. Is this also a self- portrait? I don’t feel so. It is a more general statement about love’s unknown qualities.

(2020.10 wrote)

15.
Richie’s Rabbit

1984
37 × 45 cm

In the Oriental zodiac, I am a rabbit. This print then is me. I especially like the red feelers that extend from the ears, as if they were searching for even more information than the ears would pick up.

(2020.10 wrote)

16.
Save This Ticket
It Could be Worth Millions

1986
45 × 65 cm

I created this print originally as my statement about the value and worth of our lives. In the newspapers at the time there were many articles telling of the rise in suicides in Japan. I did this work to say that our life is too valuable to throw away, that there are solutions to every challenge. I also noticed that many people just drift thru life letting society direct their paths. I didn’t like this weak attitude. Life can be thought of as a dance, as has often been said. There are many dancers in this work, but all dressed the same. This means that tho we are individuals, the Dance of Happiness is One. “Millions” in the title doesn’t necessarily mean money; it means a richer and fuller life. In the background can be seen images in light gray of religious buildings. Turning to the spiritual is one way to find valuable clues towards solving our problems. As Alice Hertz Sommers said, “Be optimistic always, smile always, laugh always.” Until she passed on at 110, she lived those words.

(2020.07 wrote)

17.
My Favorite Joints

1983

Merely a play on the word joint. Lots of fun designing and printing it. There are more definitions for joint, but they extend the meaning beyond what I intended, so they are not included.

(2020.07 wrote)

18.
St. George and the Dragon

2009
51 × 36.5cm

This work represents a little-used theme of copying another’s work, but periodizing it, sometimes subtly as in this piece, and sometimes not. The leitmotif of George slaying a dragon has been painted and printed many times in art history. So, I thought I would add my take on this incident. Looking around my studio, I noticed hiding on my table’s corner a paper towel with its metal stand going up thru the roll. Might this not have been similar to the way George killed the beast, running his sword up the middle of the animal’s body? It might. I added in the background a mix of cultural touches for non-denominational’s sake.

(2020.12 wrote)

19.
Nobel’s theory

1988
50 × 65 cm

Mr. Nobel thought that his invention, TNT, was so terrible that no one would use it, knowing that by doing so, the world would end. On the contrary, many countries liked the idea of using dynamite to eliminate their enemies. So did the enemies. Little by little, the stakes got ratcheted up, resulting in the invention of the A-bomb. This print shows what the end will look like..

20.
By the way, Pontius

1989
50 × 70 cm

Another comment on ignoring what life is actually all about, missing some of the truly important spiritual things going on around us. Pontuis and a friend are talking about Jesus’ crucifixion. The embossed image is of the babe in the manger, at the other end of what we need to understand.

Quotations:
“By the way, Pontius, How'd you enjoy that crucifixion?“
“Oh, damn, I wanted to go but, you know, I was too busy. My in-laws were in town and I had to show them Kiyomizu dera and Heian Shrine, then take them shopping at Hankyu for umbrellas. I heard it went off alright, tho I don't expect much to come of it. In the end nothing changes, does it. Status quo, right?“
“Right you are, Pontius. The birth of the new/old idea won't sell cars, I guess. Another beer?“

21.
Peace, peace

1990
77 × 55 cm

A large, only two-color print, yet powerful in its shapes and words. The hypocrisy of governments and other so-called leaders is attacked here. They say one thing, in public, when all seems well, but think/say quite another thing in private or when events go against their preconceptions. There is no compromise; “I am right, you are wrong.” And destruction results.

Quotations:
Peace, peace we cried for with great shouts, we prayed for, talked up, published essays on, pondered over, argued after, predicted, legislated, painted, sculpted and declared our love of. Then, across our sun comes one small, queer, crazy cloud - suddenly we flex our fat, hiss horrible threats, redden our faces in hate, and with awesome energy we cry out for arms and havoc.