IMC 2024 Echizen submission

Submitted to the Fifth International Mokuhanga Conference held in Echizen, Japan in 2024, this print was selected for the juried Americas exhibition. The work, identified as 'New Beginnings,' is a mokuhanga woodcut with an oil-based ink layer, measuring 35.6 by 27.9 centimeters — a vertical format roughly approximating an [oban](/glossary/oban) sheet. The hybrid technique combines water-based pigments hand-rubbed with a [baren](/glossary/baren) onto [washi](/glossary/washi), the foundation of traditional Japanese woodblock practice, with an overlaid oil-based ink layer that introduces tonal density and surface variation not achievable through mokuhanga alone. The title suggests imagery of emergence or renewal, consistent with Danford's recurring engagement with botanical and natural subjects — blossoms, blackberries, koi, and forest scenes recur across her studio output. Her selection for the Americas exhibition situates the print within the contemporary international mokuhanga movement, a community that has grown around the triennial IMC gatherings since 2011 and that actively negotiates the boundary between Edo-period technique and present-day printmaking. The Echizen location, historically associated with washi production, underscores the material lineage the work draws upon.