Pink Icicle

Pink Icicle reverses the cold associations of its referent through a sustained pink chromatic — a temperature inversion characteristic of Jung's interest in plant-derived pigment. The pink almost certainly originates from a natural source — madder, sappanwood, brazilwood, or cochineal-derived dye — each of which carries known lightfastness limitations that Jung's practice and her teaching of natural dyes at the University of Iowa would foreground rather than hide. The composition incorporates pendant or descending vertical forms rendered through layered mokuhanga registration on [washi](/glossary/washi), with silkscreen overlay introducing crisper geometry and intaglio passes adding incised line or plate tone. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradients applied through controlled [baren](/glossary/baren) pressure produce the gradated opacity associated with translucent ice. Within Jung's recent body of work, the print exemplifies her preference for color sourced from plant matter rather than synthetic ink, an alignment with mokuhanga's traditional pigment economy and a deliberate point of contact with the Japanese international print biennial communities that have recognized her work.