Yuichi hasegawa woodblock print. Limited small edition #2/30. Pencil signed lower right. 11.3 x 8.4 in. In fact it was Saito who brought Hasegawa to attention in the late 1980s saying, There is a guy from my hometown who makes woodblocks like nothing I’ve seen before. You should really take a look. It turned out that Hasegawa’s family made lacquer products and that the artist had used some of the lacquer resin to add a distinctive gleam to the surface of his pieces. He also makes reduction woodblocks. In a reduction print, a single block is used in sequence to print colors in a specific order, usually light to dark. The largest area of color is printed first, then, those areas of color intended to remain are carved away. The next color is rolled onto the same block and printed over the previous color (only those areas that were not carved away will be the newly-layered color). This sequence of carving and printing continues until all the colors have been printed, resulting in a block that has been progressively carved away, or reduced. The edition printed from a reduction block is truly limited because most of the surface of the block has been carved away. Many woodblocks which are printed using a separate block for each color also have a more one-dimensional, “flat” feeling, but the lacquer and the metallic paint that Hasegawa uses lend his work its signature texture. Hasegawa lives in a rural setting; many young people have left for the big cities, looking for jobs. He has taken over an abandoned schoolhouse to use as his atelier. Hasegawa says about his work: For a long time, I have been influenced by the deep spirituality of Zen. I live in the middle of nature and strive to create meaningful works that express the power and splendor of nature. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia. Hamburg Museum of Arts and Crafts, Germany. Newark Public Library, New Jersey. Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts. Federal Reserve Board Art Collection, Washington, DC.
