Inyō

A mokuhanga print using the ‘ura-zuri’ technique (back printing), ‘goma-zuri’ and a ‘bokashi’ sky on 0.18mm Hosho – 100% Kozo white bark unsized washi from the Udatsu Paper and Craft Museum in Echizen, Japan. The print uses three blocks of wood and two colours of pigment including watercolour and gouache, and 11 passes of colour. This one of several prints created whilst on the artist in residency basic training programme at MI-LAB, Echizen in November 2024.

Edition size: 4 no. plus 1 no. artist’s proof

Image size: 260 x 260 mm

Paper size: 300 x 300 mm approx

Price: £120

This 100% kozo paper is made at the Udatsu Museum and has a wonderful texture with long kozo fibres. I wanted to see how I could make the most of the washi’s attributes using it unsized in the hope that the applied pigment might diffuse into the washi and bleed a little. The design is derived from the concept of ‘yin yang’, which in Japan is known as ‘Inyō’ and I have experimented with the technique ‘ura-zuri’ or back printing to create a mottled semi-translucent effect as the pigment is only partially absorbed by the fibres on the front face of the washi. On the front face I printed part of the same design (recut on a new block) using white gouache with a ‘goma-zuri’ effect using a higher proportion of water to pigment and no nori (rice paste) to give a more translucent effect. This block was also undercut so that the printing on the rear gives a halo effect.

The sky proved quite difficult as it is printed using the bokashi technique with several passes of pigment which each time released a few kozo fibres from the unsized paper. These accumulated on the block and on the maru bake brush creating extra work to remove them so they didnt create blobs of colour on the print.

Two prints of the edition have been donated to MI_LAB for their archive and will be shown at an exhibition at the Udatsu Museum in December 2024, along with 27 students who attended residencies in this first year in Echizen.