I have figured out a way to do similar kinds of blends in my Western oil-based method and that is something that’s very distinctive about my prints, those color accents and blending illusions. “It’s something I’ve admired in Japanese prints. #FIRST MOKU HANGA USE HOW TO#“Even how to do that kind of Bokashi technique consistently is difficult, as it is meant to create a transitional sense of space that is really beautiful,” Kunc said. It feels like I am speaking a greater range of vocabulary with the combination of both woodcut approaches.”Īnother important quality in Japanese prints is the mysterious blending gradations called Bokashi. I like it because I can contrast those effects with the oil-based effects, and those two different print qualities and textures-inside and onto the paper-can speak to each other. “The ink actually does look a little watery. “I think the Mokuhanga method has a softer quality,” she said. Kunc said the Mokuhanga process creates a different look than her oil-based woodcuts. Kunc taught a Mokuhanga workshop at her new Constellation Studios in Lincoln in August. “But I have done several interesting projects, and I’ve taught it a little bit.” Since then she has engaged with the process off and on. “And yes, we were meant to adapt to all of these processes, working on our knees on the tatami mats, and also interacting with the small community that was there. “It was a wonderful residency to become immersed into the countryside village and small town on the island of Awaji,” Kunc said. Kunc’s first experience with Mokuhanga was in 2001 when she completed a residency in Japan for six weeks that specialized in Mokuhanga and was run by Nagasawa Art Park. There’s quite a mysticism about the relationship of all these parts.” “There has to be a symbiotic relationship of how the colors and the water are all absorbed into the wood. “It’s inherent in the Japanese method that the process is a little bit slower, and there needs to be a bonding of the materials, where the ink and the water affect how the print is going to be,” she said. Kunc said Mokuhanga almost has a “zen” approach. The printing is done by hand with the bamboo baren, instead of using a press for the transfer of oil-based ink typical in Western methods.” “So the inks are watercolor and are applied by a brush and not with a roller. “This term has become more prevalent and used even in the West to indicate prints done in the Japanese water-based method,” Kunc said. The art form became popular during the Edo period (1603-1867), when complex multi-color prints were made by publishing houses in Japan, designed by the leading artists of the time. Mokuhanga is the art technique of traditional Japanese woodblock. Kunc is the chair of the International Mokuhanga Conference International Board, which is organizing the conference. UNL’s Kunc headed to Japan for International Mokuhanga ConferenceĬather Professor of Art Karen Kunc will be traveling to Japan in September for the 2014 2nd International Mokuhanga Conference at Tokyo University of the Arts with support from a Hixson-Lied Faculty Presentation of Scholarly and Creative Activity Grant. Karen Kunc in Japan for the 1st International Mokuhanga Conference in 2011.
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