Untitled work by Craig Vaughn Fisher

Fisher's untitled prints are understood within the context of his broader practice rather than as standalone images carrying explicit subject matter. The medium of woodblock print in his catalogue refers to mokuhanga: water-based pigments, hand-carved blocks, and impression by baren on dampened washi paper. Unlike commercial Edo-period nishiki-e — which involved separate designers, carvers, and printers working in disciplined collaboration — Fisher carries out every step himself, in the tradition of the twentieth-century Sōsaku Hanga or creative-print movement. This single-authorship model suits the contemporary American adoption of mokuhanga, where artists working far from the historic print districts of Edo and Kyoto have absorbed the technique through workshops, books, and the hospitality of Japanese teachers. Fisher's Toledo, Ohio, base places him in the Midwestern node of this network. The untitled designation invites attention to the work as physical object and trace of process rather than as illustration.