Tazura (On the Surface)

Tazura, with the English subtitle "On the Surface," titles this oban mokuhanga print in which Joshua Rome returns to the theme of surface as both physical boundary and conceptual metaphor. The Japanese word adds a linguistic layer that the English subtitle partially translates, and the dual-language titling reflects Rome's bicultural artistic identity. Water-based pigments on washi paper build the image through successive transparent layers, each sitting literally on the surface of the previous printing pass. The mokuhanga technique makes the paper's surface an active participant in the image, its texture and absorbency shaping how pigment is received and how light interacts with the finished print. Rome's exploration of surface invites attention to the material reality of the print object itself, not just the image it carries, aligning his practice with a broader contemporary interest in medium-specificity.