Ruth Greenwood

A mokuhanga portrait of Ruth Greenwood, printed on [washi](/glossary/washi) from a set of carved blocks inked with water-based pigment. The print belongs to Artz's continuing series of single-figure portraits drawn from her photographic studio practice, in which each sitter is given an individual sheet rather than being arranged into a group composition. The translation from photograph to block requires the artist to separate the image into discrete tonal layers—skin, shadow, hair, ground—each carved and printed in turn, with kentō marks aligning successive impressions. Where the photograph holds gradations continuously, the woodblock holds them as decisions: a contour line, a flat field, a [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradient brushed across the block. The hand-burnished impression with the [baren](/glossary/baren) gives the surface its characteristic soft matte finish, distinct from machine-printed reproduction. The portrait's quiet frame and direct presentation reflect Artz's training as a studio portrait photographer, while the choice of mokuhanga ties it to her broader interest in moving images out of digital files and back into hand-made, paper-based forms.