Transition

Transition is a mokuhanga print produced in an edition of 10, dating from 2020 — a period during which Mannion was actively developing her water-based woodblock practice alongside her established work in wood engraving and copper enamelling. The title suggests a study of passage or threshold, themes that align with the architectural preoccupations running through her wider output, particularly the medieval Cistercian and Friary structures of Connacht that shape much of her imagery. Mokuhanga technique allows for the layered translucent washes and soft tonal gradients ([bokashi](/glossary/bokashi)) that distinguish water-based printing from oil-based relief methods, and the small edition size of 10 is typical of artist-led mokuhanga practice, where each impression is hand-burnished with a [baren](/glossary/baren) onto dampened [washi](/glossary/washi). As a Graphic Studio Dublin member since 2012, Mannion approaches the Japanese tradition through a printmaker's discipline rooted in Western relief practice, and Transition sits within a body of work where formal reduction and architectural geometry are reinterpreted through the materials and rhythms of mokuhanga.