Untitled

An untitled mokuhanga by Griffin, working within the contemporary international community of practitioners who have adapted the Japanese water-based woodblock tradition to non-narrative subject matter. Unlike the figurative [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) lineage of [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga), [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) or [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e), much contemporary mokuhanga since the sōsaku-hanga creative print movement of the early twentieth century has moved toward abstraction, landscape impression, and personal imagery — with the artist carving and printing every block themselves rather than working through the traditional division of labour between designer, carver and printer. The medium's characteristic qualities are visible in such work: the soft edges produced by water-based pigment soaking into washi, the tonal gradations achieved through [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi), and the subtle embossing left by hand-printing with a baren. Griffin's untitled prints sit within this contemporary practice and the small Irish mokuhanga community that has grown around residencies and conferences such as the IMC.