Untitled work by Manfred Egger

Manfred Egger's untitled mokuhanga, exhibited in the 2021 IMC juried show in Nara, sits within the contemporary international engagement with Japanese water-based woodblock printing. The conference's sumi theme placed emphasis on the qualities of black ink—how it behaves when ground, mixed with water, and printed through pressure with a baren onto handmade washi. Bokashi, the gradient produced by wiping the block with a damp brush before printing, becomes especially prominent in monochromatic work, where the absence of color isolates the technique's tonal range. The decision to leave a print untitled is typical of contemporary practice and shifts interpretation toward the formal: the carving marks left by the chisel, the registration of multiple blocks, the absorbency of the paper. As an Austrian participant in the IMC, Egger is part of a network of European mokuhanga artists who study, teach, and exhibit the technique outside Japan. His inclusion in the Nara exhibition affirms his standing within that international community.