Untitled work by Katherine Kenal

Produced during Kenal's 2024 MI-LAB residency in Echizen, this untitled print belongs to a sequence of works made under the supervision of Japanese master printers who guide international artists through cherry and shina block preparation, tool sharpening, and impression. Untitled compositions at this stage of training often investigate the relationship between carved line and flat color field, with participants encouraged to register multiple blocks in succession to build layered surfaces on washi. The lack of a descriptive title points to the exploratory nature of residency output, where the work serves as a record of process — pigment saturation, paper sizing with nikawa and dosa, and the tactile feedback of the baren. Echizen's centuries-old papermaking tradition supplies the substrate, and the resulting impression reflects the porous, fibrous character of handmade kozo. The print situates Kenal within a contemporary cohort of non-Japanese practitioners adopting mokuhanga as a primary medium.