Untitled

This untitled woodblock print belongs to a body of work in which Lee tests the boundaries between the flat sheet and the dimensional object. Her stated interest in extending mokuhanga into three-dimensional form sits alongside more conventional sheet printing, and her single-image prints can be read as studies in surface that anticipate later sculptural translations. Carved blocks — typically cherry or shina, the woods favored in Japanese practice — yield repeatable images that Lee then layers through successive printings, often with the [kento](/glossary/kento) registration system that aligns each color block to the previous impression. The water-based pigments used in mokuhanga sink into the [kozo](/glossary/kozo) [washi](/glossary/washi) rather than sitting on top of it, giving the printed mark a depth and softness that oil-based relief processes do not produce. Lee's doctoral research at Charles Darwin University, conducted while she worked as an editioning printer, situates this kind of work within a sustained inquiry into how a non-Japanese maker engages a Japanese material tradition.