Dear collectors,

Among printmaking artists, there is a concept known as "Making Marks." That expression literally describes the process of using tools to create indentations in a metal plate. For me—having moved from the realm of pure analog photography into the world of "printmaking" using a press—it was a refreshing phrase that had never even crossed my mind. In other words, for someone like me, whose practice has consisted entirely of immersing paper—coated with photosensitive emulsion via brush—into a solution, I had never encountered a phrase that so precisely captured the essence of printmaking.

For me, as I seek to head toward a different wilderness by following the tracks of our predecessors have left behind, the hardships they endured and their yearning for expression serve as a tremendous source of inspiration. That’s why I dedicate myself to my work every day, driven by a single-minded desire to express myself and to create. It may well be a never-ending journey.

This brings to mind the "Red Queen hypothesis," proposed by Leigh Van Valen in 1973. Named after a character in Lewis Carroll's *Through the Looking-Glass*—and inspired by her line, "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place"—the hypothesis posits that organisms must continue to evolve in order to survive. An attitude of keeping in motion and continuing to live and create—perhaps a person is truly finished the moment they become satisfied. I celebrated my 60th birthday earlier this month. The challenge for me now is how to dedicate the rest of my life to creation.