This work is one in a series called 'Silence' completed in late 1990s and early 2000s.
These are quite spiritual works and represent a transition for Hamanishi back from his purely abstract works which were influenced by the New York school to his Japanese roots which you can see in his latest works the ' Window Series'.
Here he has combined the literal and the symbolic . In the distance is a lake representationally rendered and in the foreground he presents us with the Japanese symbol for water. He is showing us his dual realities.
The mood he sets is one of sombreness; black lake, black hills. The fecund rice in the foreground represents the wisdom of age.
He has used relief printing on the hill in the background to add to its depth as well as gold leaf for the water in the foreground. His combination of printing techniques is unique in the intaglio world of printing.