Untitled work by Manfred Egger

This untitled print by Manfred Egger represents his inclusion in the 2021 IMC juried international exhibition in Nara, where the sumi-themed selection assembled mokuhanga from artists in numerous countries. The exhibition's situation in Nara, a city associated with early Buddhist printing and the historical introduction of woodblock technologies to Japan from the continent, lent the event particular resonance. Mokuhanga as a contemporary medium relies on carved cherry or shina blocks, water-soluble pigments mixed with rice-paste binder, and registration achieved by carved kento marks that align successive impressions on washi. Untitled works in this tradition often foreground these technical processes—the visible chisel cuts, the slight imperfections of hand pressure with the baren, the tonal range produced by varying ink concentration. As an Austrian artist participating in the IMC, Egger occupies a position in the international expansion of the technique that began in earnest in the late twentieth century and has accelerated through conferences, residencies, and educational programs that link European and Japanese practitioners.