
Bamboo grove
by Fumio Fujita
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
- Image courtesy of
- Saru Gallery
Description
Bamboo is a recurrent subject for Fujita, whose mature work concentrates on the geometry of vertical natural forms—trees, reeds, and groves rendered as patterned screens. The print likely consists of closely spaced vertical lines of varying thickness representing individual culms, with horizontal nodes punctuating the composition. This approach treats the grove as a flat field of marks rather than an illusionistic space, aligning with the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) emphasis on the print as autonomous object rather than reproduction. Fujita carves the cherry blocks himself and prints with hand-applied [baren](/glossary/baren) pressure, allowing variations in ink density and registration that distinguish individual impressions. The colour scheme is typically restrained—greens and umbers against the natural cream of the [washi](/glossary/washi)—and [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation may be used to suggest atmospheric recession through the grove. The flattened, decorative arrangement of vertical forms recalls the screen paintings of the Rinpa tradition while operating firmly within twentieth-century printmaking conventions.







