Untitled

This untitled woodblock by Ninomiya Miyuki belongs to her ongoing studio practice as a contemporary mokuhanga artist. Working in the water-based Japanese woodblock tradition, she operates within the sōsaku-hanga model in which the artist designs, carves, and prints her own blocks rather than dividing those tasks across a workshop as Edo-period [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) production did. Many contemporary practitioners leave works untitled to keep interpretation open, allowing the texture of [washi](/glossary/washi) paper, the registration of multiple blocks, and the absorbency of pigment to carry the work rather than narrative subject. Ninomiya's selection for both the 2021 IMC in Nara and the 2024 IMC in Echizen places this print within the community of practitioners who have rebuilt mokuhanga as an international contemporary medium since the founding of the International Mokuhanga Conference. The print would have been pulled by hand using a [baren](/glossary/baren), the disc-shaped pad whose pressure determines tonal saturation across each layer.