poles spitzack woodblock woodcut mokuhanga print printmaking washi seattle art artist

A second print sharing the poles title with another work in Spitzack's output, suggesting a series or paired composition exploring the same motif under different conditions. Series and variant impressions have a long history in Japanese woodblock printing—Hokusai's thirty-six and one hundred views of Fuji being the canonical example—and contemporary mokuhanga practitioners have inherited the practice of returning to a subject through multiple prints. Variations may involve seasonal change, time of day, viewpoint, or technical experimentation with bokashi gradations, color sequencing, or paper choice. The reuse of carved blocks across editions also makes serial work economical in a medium where carving is the most labor-intensive step. Spitzack's award at the 2024 International Mokuhanga Conference in Echizen recognizes a practice grounded in this kind of sustained engagement with the medium, where individual prints are best understood as part of a longer working relationship with subject matter rather than as discrete one-off images.