Carolyn Murphy

This mokuhanga portrait of Carolyn Murphy belongs to Andrea G. Artz's named-sitter series, in which photographic portraits are translated into Japanese water-based woodblock prints. The print is produced by carving a sequence of cherry-wood blocks corresponding to the tonal and chromatic structure of the source image, then printing each in registration on [washi](/glossary/washi) using a [baren](/glossary/baren). The resulting surface combines the recognizable likeness of photographic portraiture with the material qualities of mokuhanga: layered pigment absorbed into long-fibered paper, edges defined by the cut of the block rather than the continuous tone of photographic emulsion. Artz's broader practice extends from these flat prints into three-dimensional, folded paper constructions in which photographic portraits become filigree, near-weightless objects installed in gallery space. The two-dimensional woodblock portraits and the sculptural installations operate as parallel investigations of the human figure, both grounded in her training as a portrait photographer and her later interdisciplinary work developed during her MFA at the University of Leeds.