Forgotton Way (60/75)

Printed in an edition of 75, this oban mokuhanga print explores a subject of abandonment or overgrowth, its title suggesting a path once traveled but now reclaimed by nature. Joshua Rome builds the image through successive layers of water-based pigment on washi paper, each pass adding depth and complexity while maintaining the translucent quality that distinguishes mokuhanga from oil-based printing methods. The forgotten way may be a literal trail disappearing under vegetation or a metaphorical passage through memory and time. Rome's semi-abstract treatment keeps both readings available, refusing to resolve the image into pure landscape or pure symbol. The mokuhanga process itself involves a kind of patient accumulation, layer upon layer, that mirrors the way nature slowly buries an unused path under seasons of growth.