
Godzilla And polar bear
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
- Image courtesy of
- Saru Gallery
Description
This print exemplifies Kristensen's irreverent contemporary approach to mokuhanga, pairing two creatures from radically different visual traditions: Godzilla, the postwar kaiju born from Japanese cinema, and a polar bear, an emblem of the Arctic. The juxtaposition reads as a sly commentary on cultural collision and ecological displacement, themes that recur throughout his work as a Danish-born printmaker living in Japan. Technically, the image likely employs flat, bold color fields characteristic of Kristensen's graphic style, registered cleanly through multiple woodblocks and printed by hand with a baren onto washi. The composition relies on the tension between two iconic silhouettes rather than narrative detail, a strategy that connects his work to ukiyo-e's tradition of legible, pattern-driven imagery while pushing it toward editorial cartoon. Outside his major series projects, prints like this show Kristensen using the mokuhanga medium for one-off conceptual gags, treating the centuries-old technique as a vehicle for contemporary humor rather than antiquarian revival.
More Prints by Tom Kristensen
More Animals Prints

Snake Charmers (Hebizukai)
Hebizukai
1932
Color woodblock print; oban

Hoshifuri Pine at Zen'yoji Temple in Edogawa (Edogawa-ku Zen'yoji Hoshifuri matsu), from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)"
1935
Color woodblock print; oban

Drawing for Rabbit and Boy
1964
Acrylic paint and oil pastel with oiled charcoal and ink over an ink and graphite underdrawing on paper

Rabbit and Boy
1964
Color lithograph with relief block and hand coloring; edition 35/36
Frequently Asked Questions
Godzilla And polar bear was created by Tom Kristensen.
Godzilla And polar bear depicts animals.



