Untitled

This untitled woodblock by Kate Milford belongs to her body of contemporary mokuhanga work associated with the International Mokuhanga Conference circle. Mokuhanga prints of this kind are typically produced on cherry (yamazakura) or shina plywood blocks, inked with rice-paste-bound pigments (nori), and burnished by hand with a [baren](/glossary/baren) onto dampened [washi](/glossary/washi). The absence of a title is consistent with abstract or non-narrative compositions favored by many North American practitioners working in the medium, where the focus shifts from the [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) or [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) subjects of the Edo tradition toward color, surface, and the material qualities of the paper itself. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations, embossed gauffrage from uninked blocks, and visible fiber from handmade washi are characteristic markers of contemporary studio mokuhanga that distinguish it from photomechanical reproduction. Without a published title or reproduction record, the work is best located within Milford's exhibition activity and the wider revival of mokuhanga practice outside Japan during the past two decades.