Untitled

This untitled print shows the bold compositional choices that run through Alex Mankiewicz's mokuhanga work. Trained as a printmaker in Kyoto and now working between that city and Byron Bay, Mankiewicz approaches the woodblock as a graphic medium first — meaning the image is conceived in terms of clear shapes, deliberate negative space, and a limited, considered palette. The water-based mokuhanga process suits this approach: pigment is mixed with rice paste (nori) on the block and pulled onto [washi](/glossary/washi) with a [baren](/glossary/baren), producing flat fields of color that read as designed shapes rather than rendered surfaces. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations, where pigment is graded across the block before printing, can soften an edge without breaking the graphic integrity of the composition. Mankiewicz's training as an illustrator means he edits aggressively at the design stage; what survives onto the block is what the image actually requires. Every element has a structural reason for being there, with little incidental detail competing for attention.