Stacks Image 27

Filed under a portfolio-system identifier, this print is part of Julie Murphy's continuing mokuhanga practice in Ireland. The technique requires considerable preparation before any image is pulled: blocks of cherry or shina plywood must be carved with kiwa-bori edge cuts and aisuki gouges; washi paper must be sized, dampened to a specific moisture level, and rested between sheets of newsprint to equalise; and pigments must be reground with each session if held in dry block form. The actual printing — pigment brushed onto the block with rice paste, paper laid against the kentō, baren rubbed in firm circles — is comparatively quick, but each impression in a multi-block print requires the full cycle of registration. Murphy is one of a small number of mokuhanga printmakers based in Ireland, and her exhibition at Echizen in 2024 reflects the technique's growing visibility within the European printmaking community.