
IMC 2024 Echizen submission
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
- Image courtesy of
- IMC 2024 Echizen
Description
Submitted to the International Mokuhanga Conference (IMC) 2024 held in Echizen, a region of Fukui Prefecture historically renowned for its [washi](/glossary/washi) production, this print represents Tsutsumi's contribution to the triennial gathering of mokuhanga practitioners worldwide. The Echizen edition of IMC, hosted in a center of traditional papermaking, customarily emphasizes the material relationship between print and substrate, and Tsutsumi's submission would have been printed on locally produced washi. Consistent with her established practice, the work likely deploys the very fine, thin carvings and organic, plant-derived forms that characterize her botanical vocabulary — shapes drawn from the surprise and discovery she finds in living vegetation. Water-based pigments applied with the [baren](/glossary/baren) produce the soft tonal transitions and [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations native to mokuhanga. As a 2024 work shown at IMC, this print sits within the contemporary international mokuhanga movement that has expanded the technique beyond Japan, while Tsutsumi's own practice remains rooted in Nara and in the layered integration of printmaking with photography and video that defines her multimedia approach.
