Untitled work by Karen Pittman

A second untitled piece from Pittman's mokuhanga practice. Working in this medium requires the carving of a separate cherry or shina block for each color or tonal area, with kento registration marks cut into the block edges to align successive impressions on the dampened washi sheet. The water-based pigments are absorbed into rather than sitting on top of the paper, producing a matte finish and softer color transitions than oil-based relief printing can achieve. Untitled presentation in contemporary mokuhanga typically signals an emphasis on process and material — the hand of the printer visible in the pressure variation of the baren strokes, the slight bleeding of pigment at color boundaries, the texture of the paper itself. Pittman's selection for the 2024 IMC Americas juried exhibition in Echizen places this work within the active North American mokuhanga community, whose members participate in international biennial conferences alternating between Japan and North America.