Abstract

As a departure from Oi's more representational subjects, this print explores non-objective form through the mokuhanga process. Abstraction in the woodblock medium invites attention to the inherent qualities of the craft itself — the grain of the woodblock, the resistance of [washi](/glossary/washi), the layering of pigments applied with a [baren](/glossary/baren). Oi likely uses overlapping color fields, geometric or organic shapes, and deliberate textural variation to build the composition. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations may create transitions between zones of color. The work reflects the influence of mid-twentieth-century Japanese printmakers who adapted Western abstraction to traditional woodblock techniques, situating it within ongoing experimentation in contemporary mokuhanga.