trickster spitzack woodblock woodcut mokuhanga print printmaking washi seattle art

Trickster is a mokuhanga print by Charles Spitzack drawing on the trickster archetype that recurs across world mythologies — the fox, raven, coyote, hare, or human figure whose cunning subverts established order. Japanese tradition contributes the kitsune (fox) and tanuki (raccoon dog) to this archetype, both common subjects in Edo-period prints. Whether Spitzack draws on Japanese, Native American, African, or European trickster imagery, the print is produced through the standard mokuhanga apparatus: hand-carved blocks, [kento](/glossary/kento) registration, water-based pigments, and [baren](/glossary/baren) burnishing on [washi](/glossary/washi). Spitzack's engagement with mythological and narrative subjects, alongside his weather and animal prints, reflects the breadth of his body of work, which earned recognition at the 2024 International Mokuhanga Conference in Echizen. The trickster figure's ambiguity — neither hero nor villain — invites the kind of nuanced rendering that water-based mokuhanga supports through layered transparent pigments and tonal modulation, where character can emerge from atmospheric printing choices as much as from drawn line.