IMC 2024 Echizen submission

This print was prepared for the 2024 International Mokuhanga Conference (IMC), held in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture — a region synonymous with the production of high-grade [washi](/glossary/washi) used in traditional mokuhanga. Conference submission prints typically respond to a host-region theme and are exhibited collectively, with each artist working within agreed parameters of paper, format, and edition size. Without a descriptive title beyond the conference reference, the image most likely engages with Echizen itself: its papermaking heritage, the surrounding Hokuriku landscape, or motifs drawn from the [kozo](/glossary/kozo) and [gampi](/glossary/gampi) fibres that underpin the medium. Technically, an IMC submission of this kind would be printed on Echizen washi using water-based pigments and the [baren](/glossary/baren), with registration through traditional [kento](/glossary/kento) marks. McKenna's contribution sits within his broader practice as director of the Karuizawa Mokuhanga School, where he trains residents in the same hand-printing techniques the IMC exists to sustain. The work reflects the conference's role as a meeting point between Japanese tradition and the international mokuhanga community that has grown around figures such as McKenna and his teacher Richard Steiner.