Strata

Strata (2007) is a color woodcut printed in water-based ink on off-white Japan paper, and represents an earlier period in Brodbeck's career. The title refers to geological layering — the horizontal banding of sedimentary rock, lakebed deposits, or compressed earth — rendered through the inherently stratified vocabulary of multi-block printmaking. Each carved block contributes a distinct horizontal register of color, and the off-white Japan paper provides a warm ground that integrates the printed layers. The woodcut grain, visible through the translucent ink films, adds surface texture that reinforces the geological metaphor. Strata demonstrates Brodbeck's early focus on formally rigorous, earth-referencing subjects within the mokuhanga tradition.