IMC 2024 Echizen submission

This print was produced for the International Mokuhanga Conference held in 2024 at Echizen, in Fukui Prefecture — a region whose centuries-old washi-making tradition has long supplied paper to woodblock printmakers in Japan and abroad. Conference submissions are exhibited as part of the IMC programme and typically demonstrate technical command within a constrained format. The print would have been carved on cherry or shina blocks and printed by hand with baren-applied pressure onto Echizen washi, using water-based pigments registered through kentō marks. IMC contributions often foreground the interaction between paper, pigment and pressure that defines the medium, with artists selecting bokashi gradations or registration sequences that showcase craft skill. For Hey, contributing to IMC 2024 continues a sustained involvement with the international mokuhanga community that began with his Nagasawa Art Park residency in 2000 under Tadashi Toda, Shunzo Matsuda and Kyoko Sakamoto, and reflects his position as a European artist working within the Japanese tradition.