Biography
Mara Cozzolino is an Italian printmaker born in Turin in 1975 who is one of the leading mokuhanga practitioners in Europe. Living and working in northwest Italy near Avigliana, she has been drawing since childhood and initially experimented with etching techniques, particularly aquatint in different colors. Her deepening interest in printmaking led her to discover mokuhanga in 2011, and after two trips to Japan, she fell in love with the water-based Japanese woodblock printing technique and has worked with it exclusively since.
Cozzolino is a full-time artist whose practice is entirely self-directed: all her blocks are carved and then hand-printed by herself on Japanese paper. All her prints are inspired by things she loves and are completely original. Part of her income comes from teaching Japanese woodblock workshops around northern Italy, making her an important figure in the dissemination of mokuhanga knowledge in the region. She has trained other notable Italian mokuhanga artists, including Laura Bortoloni.
She serves on the International Advisory Board of the International Mokuhanga Association (IMA) and has been deeply involved with the international mokuhanga community. In 2022, she had a solo exhibition at MI-LAB titled 'Ten Years,' marking a decade of her mokuhanga practice. She is listed in the Mokumap directory and contributes to Mokublad, the newsletter of the Mokuhanga Magic community. Her work was selected for the 2024 IMC Europe exhibition in Echizen, Japan. She sells prints through Etsy and has been featured by the Japanese Paper Company.
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇮🇹Italy
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Subjects
- CatsCraftspeople
- Works Indexed
- 11
Frequently Asked Questions
Mara Cozzolino is an Italian printmaker born in Turin in 1975 who is one of the leading mokuhanga practitioners in Europe. Living and working in northwest Italy near Avigliana, she has been drawing since childhood and initially experimented with etching techniques, particularly aquatint in different colors. Her deepening interest in printmaking led her to discover mokuhanga in 2011, and after two trips to Japan, she fell in love with the water-based Japanese woodblock printing technique and has worked with it exclusively since.
Mara Cozzolino'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.
Mara Cozzolino's prints frequently feature cats, craftspeople.
Mara Cozzolino 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.
Woodblock Prints by Mara Cozzolino (11)
IMC 2024 Echizen submission
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
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