Wood, Paper, Ink explores mokuhanga, a traditional method of Japanese water-based woodblock printing, and its expansion from Japan to the international world of contemporary art. Organized by the Mokuhanga Sisters and the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, the exhibition presents diverse examples of the environmentally sustainable printmaking process.
Mokuhanga translates literally to “wood print” in Japanese. Woodblock printing developed in Japan as a popular art form during the Edo Period (1603-1867). These prints, known as ukiyo-e, had a profound influence on European artists in the nineteenth century. Though a traditional medium, ukiyo-e thrives on innovation and continues to influence both Japanese and global art traditions.
The Mokuhanga Sisters, a print collective of nine women, met at the Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory (MI-LAB) in Fujikawaguchiko, Japan, during various residencies between 2017 and 2019, and have since forged friendships through their studio practice. The artists in the collective have invited their teachers, students, and other members of the mokuhanga community to honor the past and explore the future of the medium. Artists in the exhibition hail from Ireland, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Exhibiting artists: Katie Baldwin, Annie Bissett, Kevin Frances, Matthew Willie Garcia, Hidehiko Gotou, Kyoko Hirai, Patty Hudak, Mariko Jesse, Shoichi Kitamura, Kate MacDonagh, Terry McKenna, Yoonmi Nam, Florence Neal, Natasha Norman, Mia O, Brendan Reilly, Louise Rouse, Lucy May Schofield, Melissa Schulenberg, Ayao Shiokawa, Chihiro Taki, April Vollmer, Jennifer Mack Watkins, and Katsutoshi Yuasa.
Events:
Brendan Reilly, Avo, 2020
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Canton, NY
Katie Baldwin, Meeting Place (Fire Drill), 2021
Katie Baldwin, Meeting Place (Fire Drill), 2021
Lucy May Schofield, An Alter to Love, 2021
Lucy May Schofield, An Alter to Love, 2021
Lucy May Schofield, An Alter to Love, 2021
Lucy May Schofield, An Alter to Love, 2021
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Yoonmi Nam, Winter Spring and Yoonmi Nam, Fall Winter
Yoonmi Nam, Winter Spring, 2019
Yoonmi Nam, Fall Winter, 2019
Natasha Norman, Autumnal Grasses Dancing in a Warm Wind, 2021
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
April, Vollmer, Spider April Voller, Crane Fly, and Biter Spider
April, Vollmer, Spider Biter, 2018
April Voller, Crane Fly, 2005
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Kyoko Hirai, Medaka and Godfish, and Kawatari Kin Sarasa, Textile
Kyoko Hirai, Medaka and Goldfish, Kingyo ni Medaka, artist: Rakusan Tsuchiya（1896-1976) reprint by Kyoko Hirai in 2019
Kyoko Hirai, Kawatari Kin Sarasa, Textile, 2019
Kevin Frances, Superposition (photography) and The Meteorite
Kevin Frances, Superposition (photography) 2018-2020
Kevin Frances, The Meteorite, 2020
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Mariko Jesse, Fir Tree, 2005
Annie Bissett, Tongues and Annunciatioin
Annie Bissett, Tongues, 2022
Annie Bissett, Annunciation, 2022
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Mokuhanga Sisters, Borderless Scroll, 2020
Mokuhanga Sisters, Borderless Scroll, 2020
Mokuhanga Sisters, Borderless Scroll, 2020
Mokuhanga Sisters, Borderless Scroll, 2020
Mariko Jesse and Annie Bissett
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Ayao Shiokawa, Beside the Moon, 2019
Matthew Willie Garcia, Mia O, Katie Baldwin, and Shoichi Kitamura
Matthew Willie Garcia, And From a Nowhere Place... and Queering Space-Time
Matthew Willie Garcia, And From a Nowhere Place..., 2021
Matthew Willie Garcia, Queering Space-Time, 2021
Katie Baldwin and Shoichi Kitamura
Katie Baldwin, Tornado Shelter, Practice Evacuation, 2020
Shoichi Kitamura, Senbon Tori, 2019
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Mia O
Mia O, Untitled 13, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 8, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 7, 2018
Louise Rouse, Study for Tumble, 2021
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Florence Neal, Liberty, 2018-2021
Florence Neal, Liberty, 2018-2021
Florence Neal, Liberty, 2018-2021
Florence Neal, Liberty, 2018-2021
WooLouise Rouse and Mariko Jessed Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Louise Rouse and Mariko Jesse
Louise Rouse, Study for Tumble Fold, 2021
Mariko Jesse, Into the Garden, Blue Version, 2019
Mariko Jesse, Into the Garden, Blue Version
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Natasha Norman, Rain Spell, 2017
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Terry McKenna, Thought From NoWhere, and Autumn World
Terry McKenna, Thought From NoWhere, 2019
Terry McKenna, Autumn World, 2019
Kate MacDonagh, Somewhere In Between, 2019
Kate MacDonagh, Somewhere In Between, 2019
Kate MacDonagh, Mia O, and Melissa Schulenberg
Mia O, Untitled 16, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 18, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 3, 2018
Mia O, Untitled 9, 2018
Mia O, Untitled 14, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 4, 2020
Mia O, Untitled 5, 2018
Mia O, Untitled 15, 2020
Mia O, Untitled 11, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 17, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 10, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 12, 2020
Mia O, Untitled 2, 2019
Mia O, Untitled 6, 2019
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Melissa Schulenberg, Pendulum, and Boom
Melissa Schulenberg, Pendulum, 2019
Melissa Schulenberg, Boom, 2019
Brendan Reilly, Untitled Landscape, 2020
Brendan Reilly, Untitled (Landscape)
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Katsutoshi Yuasa, Heat Island, 2020
Katsutoshi Yuasa and Patty Hudak
Patty Hudak, Circulation of the Light, and Patterning
Patty Hudak, Circulation of the Light, 2021
Patty Hudak, Patterning, 2021
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Patty Hudak and Jennifer Mack Watkins
Jennifer Mack Watkins, Future Undetermined, and Saucy and Sweet
Jennifer Mack Watkins, Future Undetermined, 2019
Jennifer Mack Watkins, Saucy and Sweet, 2014
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Kate Mac Donagh, Diptych 1, installation view
Kate Mac Donagh, Diptych 1, installation view
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Chihiro Taki, Lost, and Hidehiko Gotou, Kafka's Eyes
Chihiro Taki, Lost, 2011
Wood Paper Ink, Richard F Brush Gallery, Installation View
Lucy May Schofield, Chihiro Taki, Hidehiko Gotou
Mokuhanga Sisters is a print collective of nine artists: Katie Baldwin, Patty Hudak, Mariko Jesse, Kate MacDonagh, Yoonmi Nam, Natasha Norman, Mia O, Lucy May Schofield, and Melissa Schulenberg. This international group bonded while studying mokuhanga in Japan and has continued to work together to promote exhibitions and educational projects involving mokuhanga.
Special thanks to:
Special thanks to:
Catherine Tedford- Director Brush Art Gallery
Carole Mathey- Assistant Director Brush Art Gallery
Ray Whelan and Oliver Erwich for their aesthetic judgment in hanging this exhibition
Teya Shrady for her organization and imaging
All the staff at the Robert F Brush Gallery
