Laura Pérez

This mokuhanga print bears the name of Laura Pérez, suggesting a portrait subject — likely the Barcelona-based illustrator known for her ornamental, mystical figurative work, or another contemporary figure within Gil Alares's circle. Portrait-format mokuhanga in the contemporary European tradition typically employs a small number of carved blocks with flat color fields registered through kentō, the notched alignment system carried over from Edo-period practice. The water-based pigments are pressed into dampened washi by hand with a baren, producing softer color saturation than oil-based relief printing and allowing for subtle bokashi gradients along contour edges. Gil Alares, working from Zaragoza and listed in the Mokumap directory of practitioners maintained by Mokuhanga Magic, sits within a generation of Spanish and European artists who studied the technique through workshops and residencies abroad and apply it to non-traditional subjects. A portrait such as this departs from the bijin-ga conventions of historical ukiyo-e while retaining the medium's characteristic tactility and limited palette.