Jan Rosser

Jan Rosser is a mokuhanga portrait by Andrea G. Artz, derived from her photographic studies of the human figure. The print is constructed in the traditional sequence of Japanese water-based woodblock: a key block carries the linear structure of the image, and additional colour blocks are registered to it using kentō notches cut into each block's edge. This system allows Artz to translate a continuous-tone portrait photograph into discrete, layered fields of pigment without losing the sitter's features. Printed by hand on [washi](/glossary/washi) with a [baren](/glossary/baren) rather than a mechanical press, the impression preserves the slight variations in pressure and absorption that distinguish hand-pulled prints from photographic reproduction. The work is consistent with Artz's broader interrogation of the photographic image as a starting point rather than a finished object, an inquiry that also underlies her folded paper portrait sculptures.