$1,500–$6,000. Smaller works: $1,500–$2,500. Key value factors: Rome's contemplative abstract prints bridge Eastern and Western aesthetics. Limited editions hold value.
Surface, both as a physical boundary and as a metaphor for visible versus hidden depths, is the subject of this oban mokuhanga print. Joshua Rome uses the layered water-based woodblock technique to explore what lies at the interface between above and below, whether that boundary is a water surface, a ground plane, or the paper surface itself. The mokuhanga process is uniquely suited to this inquiry because each printed layer literally sits on the surface of the previous one, creating a physical stratigraphy visible in the finished print. Rome builds his image through these accumulated transparent passes, allowing earlier colors to show through later ones in a way that makes the print's own surface an active participant in its meaning. The title invites the viewer to consider what is shown and what is concealed beneath the visible.
Nikko Chuzenjiko
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Niigata Gosaibori
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
On the Surface was created by Joshua Rome.
On the Surface depicts rivers & lakes and abstract.
