Bear In Mind

Printed using the mokuhanga technique—Japanese water-based woodblock printing on washi—this work depicts a bear subject with the soft, absorbent tonal gradation characteristic of water-based pigments on Japanese paper. Mokuhanga's capacity for bokashi, the graduated blending achieved by dampening the block before applying pigment, would allow Schneider to render the bear's fur with atmospheric subtlety rather than the hard contrast associated with oil-based Western woodcut. The title's wordplay suggests an intentional register: the work is both an image of a bear and a directive to hold the animal in memory, reflecting Schneider's broader advocacy framing. The multi-block registration typical of mokuhanga permits layered color that can describe form volumetrically, distinguishing the animal from its surroundings through careful key-block drawing and color separations applied with a baren across dampened washi.