Biography
Aafke Bouman is a Dutch artist working across drawing, painting, mixed media, and printmaking, whose practice approaches visual art as a form of archaeological investigation into historical narratives and human traces. Born in Amsterdam in 1994, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration from HKU University of the Arts Utrecht in 2017.
Bouman's work is characterized by an interplay between personal observation and its translation into illustrative compositions, where documentation and fiction merge to create layered visual narratives. She transforms historical subjects in a playful way, using bold color and found imagery to reimagine past events and cultural artifacts. Her practice incorporates nomadic elements, reflecting her pattern of working across different locations and cultural contexts to gather source material.
In April 2019, Bouman participated in the Studio Kura Artist in Residence program in Itoshima, Japan, where she explored the local history of the region by gathering anecdotes and transforming them into aesthetic experiences. This residency deepened her engagement with Japanese artistic traditions and material culture.
Bouman was a resident artist at MI-LAB (Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory) in 2024, participating in the Basic Training Program A in Echizen, Japan, where she studied mokuhanga, the traditional Japanese water-based woodblock printing technique. The MI-LAB program, which provides international artists with intensive instruction in traditional tools and materials under Japanese master printers, introduced her to the technical and philosophical dimensions of mokuhanga as a medium for her ongoing investigation of historical narrative and cultural memory.
Her work has been exhibited in the Netherlands, Japan, and internationally. She currently lives and works in London, continuing to develop a practice that bridges illustration, printmaking, and historical research.
Key Facts
- Active Period
- 1994
- Nationality
- 🇳🇱Netherlands
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Works Indexed
- 3
Frequently Asked Questions
Aafke Bouman is a Dutch artist working across drawing, painting, mixed media, and printmaking, whose practice approaches visual art as a form of archaeological investigation into historical narratives and human traces. Born in Amsterdam in 1994, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration from HKU University of the Arts Utrecht in 2017.
Aafke Bouman was active born in 1994. They were associated with the Contemporary Mokuhanga movement.
Aafke Bouman's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Aafke Bouman is a contemporary printmaker working in the mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock) tradition. Their work contributes to the living tradition of Japanese woodblock printing. Prices for contemporary mokuhanga prints range from $100 for smaller works to $1,500 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $180–$600 range. The global mokuhanga community has been growing, with increasing exhibition opportunities and collector interest. Contemporary mokuhanga represents an affordable entry point for collectors.
