Untitled

An untitled work in Shimizu's mokuhanga output, where the absence of a descriptive title invites engagement with the image's formal qualities rather than a subject reference. The print is hand-pulled on [washi](/glossary/washi) using water-based pigments applied with the [baren](/glossary/baren), yielding the soft tonal transitions and visible paper grain that distinguish mokuhanga from mechanical or oil-based reproduction. Across her body of work, untitled prints often function as compositional studies—explorations of color relationships, registration challenges, or block-cutting approaches that may inform later titled pieces. The technique demands that color be built up through successive impressions, each block carved separately and aligned through [kento](/glossary/kento) registration marks cut into the corner and edge of every block. Her training under Tomikichiro Tokuriki and Yoshisuke Funasaka grounded her in this layered methodology, which she has continued to practice across five decades. Even without a title, the print carries the marks of her work in mokuhanga: a measured color economy, attention to the [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradient, and the tactile evidence of hand-printing.