IMC 2024 Echizen submission

Submitted to the 2024 International Mokuhanga Conference, held in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture — a region tied historically to Japanese [washi](/glossary/washi) production — this print belongs to MacDonagh's continuing exploration of abstraction through the mokuhanga process. Building on the practice she developed during her residency at MI-LAB in Fujikawaguchiko, the work would have employed water-based pigments brushed across handmade washi and impressed by hand with a [baren](/glossary/baren) rather than a mechanical press. MacDonagh's compositions in this period favor pared-back fields of color, often layered through multiple registrations to produce shifts in tone and density, with [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations softening the boundaries between forms. The IMC exhibition format situates her contribution within an exchange among international mokuhanga practitioners, placing Irish abstract painting traditions alongside the Japanese printmaking lineage in which she trained. Consistent with her wider body of work, the image addresses dualities of light and dark, presence and absence, the material weight of pigment on paper against the spectral quality of washed color. Echizen washi, valued for its strength and absorbency, suits her layered approach.