Arohi Gupta

A mokuhanga portrait of Arohi Gupta, produced through the translation of a digital photograph into a hand-printed woodblock image. The photograph is separated into tonal layers, each carved into a wood block, then printed in succession with water-based pigment onto [washi](/glossary/washi) using a [baren](/glossary/baren). The kentō registration system aligns the layers, while [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations soften the transitions between tonal regions. Water-based pigment absorbs into the washi rather than sitting on its surface, giving the printed face a matte, fibre-bound quality that differs from both photographic prints and oil-based lithographs. Arohi Gupta forms part of Artz's continuing portrait series, in which the sitter is drawn from her circle and the likeness is treated as a starting point for material transformation rather than as a finished record. The portrait series runs in parallel with her installation practice of folded three-dimensional paper figures, sharing an interest in the movement between the photographic image, the printed surface and the physical object.