IMC 2024 Echizen submission

This 2024 mokuhanga is Januski's submission to the International Mokuhanga Conference (IMC), the triennial gathering that brings practitioners of the Japanese water-based woodblock tradition together for exhibitions, demonstrations, and exchange. The Echizen designation refers to the washi produced in Fukui Prefecture, where paper has been hand-made for roughly 1,500 years and which remains the substrate of choice for many contemporary mokuhanga artists working at conference scale. Consistent with Januski's practice since 2017, the subject is drawn from his field observations of birds and other wildlife around Philadelphia, rendered through multiple key and color blocks cut in plywood and printed by baren onto dampened sheets. The water-soluble pigments characteristic of mokuhanga allow for the soft tonal gradations and bokashi transitions that suit feather pattern and atmospheric setting, qualities Januski has cited as drawing him from linocut to wood in 2013. Submissions to IMC exhibitions tend to balance technical demonstration with personal voice, and this print sits within Januski's wider body of work positioning the woodblock medium as a vehicle for direct natural history observation rather than decorative reference.