IMC 2024 Echizen submission

This print represents Machowski's contribution to the International Mokuhanga Conference (IMC) 2024, the triennial gathering of practitioners working in the Japanese woodblock medium. The "Echizen" designation indicates the work was produced on Echizen [washi](/glossary/washi), the [kozo](/glossary/kozo)-fiber handmade paper from Fukui Prefecture historically prized for its absorbency and dimensional stability under repeated [baren](/glossary/baren) impressions. Submissions to IMC group portfolios typically arrive at uniform sheet dimensions to permit collective exhibition and exchange among participating artists, with each contributor printing a small edition for distribution. Machowski's piece sits within his broader doctoral research at the University of Rzeszow into the adaptation of mokuhanga to a contemporary European context, where the technique's reliance on water-based pigments, [kento](/glossary/kento) registration, and hand-pulled editions departs from the oil-based relief traditions dominant in Western printmaking. His engagement with international conference networks reflects the revival of mokuhanga as a globally distributed practice rooted in shared material vocabularies rather than a strictly Japanese inheritance. The work continues a body of studio production he has developed under the artistic name "macha" since taking up the medium in 2019.