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](/glossary/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.