Mokuhanga Workshop at Washi no Sato — Higashichichibu, Saitama Prefecture

The complex of Washi no Sato is such an amazing space. Used for paper-making and woodblock printing, the staff and printmakers were extremely welcoming and encouraging when it came to our workshops of both practices.

Having been an art form for close to 1300 years, it is such a proud achievement for Japanese culture to have adapted such refined skills in paper-making - and it was not lost on me just how lucky I was to be learning from, and performing this skill, alongside masters of the craft.

The Mokuhanga workshops were intense if I’m honest, and it was a lot of work to design, carve, and print two seperate woodblock layers within two days. However, it was so rewarding when having completed the work. My artwork reflected the impact of Japanese spirituality on me personally when visiting the different parts of the country - particularly Koyasan and Kyoto.

The final print is titled ‘transition’. As the work will be displayed in Tokyo, alongside everyone else’s in the group, I wanted to include the Kanji spelling as a sign of respect to the viewer’s (likely) nationality and mother tongue, as well as showing respect for the land in which the work is residing.