IMC 2024 Echizen submission

Submitted to the International Mokuhanga Conference Asia exhibition held in Echizen in 2024, this print enters the record through its exhibition context rather than a descriptive title. Echizen, in Fukui Prefecture, is among the oldest centers of [washi](/glossary/washi) production in Japan, with a documented papermaking tradition spanning more than a millennium — a resonant venue for an exhibition devoted to water-based woodblock printing. Mokuhanga technique involves carving designs into cherry, magnolia, or shina plywood, applying water-based pigments bound with rice paste (nori), and pulling impressions onto dampened washi using a [baren](/glossary/baren). The medium permits soft [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations and the layered transparency characteristic of the tradition, distinct from the opaque inks of Western relief printing. The IMC network, established to connect practitioners across Japan, Taiwan, North America, and Europe, has been instrumental in sustaining and expanding the technique outside its Edo-period origins. Tseng's participation situates her within Taiwan's growing community of mokuhanga artists, whose work often integrates classical multi-block registration methods with contemporary subject matter and abstraction, contributing to the cross-cultural dialogue that defines current IMC exhibitions.