Saotome (The Rice Planter) (84/100)

Printed in an edition of 100, this oban mokuhanga returns to the saotome (rice planter) theme, depicting the figure at work in the flooded paddies. Joshua Rome's repeated engagement with this subject suggests a sustained fascination with the visual and cultural richness of rice cultivation as practiced in Japan. The water-based woodblock technique builds the composition through layered pigment passes on washi paper, each layer adding to the image's depth while maintaining the translucency that is mokuhanga's defining quality. The rice planter works in an environment that is simultaneously land and water, a liminal zone that the printing process itself navigates as water-based pigments meet absorbent paper. The large edition of 100 indicates a print that found an audience, its accessible combination of traditional subject matter and contemporary mokuhanga technique appealing to collectors drawn to both aspects.