A Moment of Silence

A Moment of Silence is a 2013 oil-based woodcut on paper by Yuasa Katsutoshi, held in the Minneapolis Institute of Art. At 134.9 by 61 centimeters, the print is dramatically larger than traditional Japanese woodblock formats, reflecting Yuasa's interest in pushing the physical scale of the medium. The title suggests a pause, an interval of stillness, which the large vertical format may translate into a visual experience of standing before something that demands quiet attention. Yuasa belongs to a generation of contemporary Japanese printmakers who combine traditional woodblock techniques with Western materials, in this case oil-based inks rather than the water-based pigments of traditional mokuhanga. Born in 1978, he represents the newest wave of artists keeping the woodcut medium vital, using it to produce works that function as contemporary art objects rather than multiples in the traditional sense.