We featured Kristen McClarty in our June Newsletter after she completed her first Mokuhanga print using locally accessed tools and materials. She is embarking on a much bigger woodcut project that seeks to incorporate Mokuhanga printing into her printmaking practice in new ways. We caught up with her on her process and approach to Mokuhanga as part of her studio practice.
You’ve recently begun another Mokuhanga print in your studio, what has drawn you back to this medium as opposed to the other print techniques you use in your studio?
I work across a number of mediums in my studio, although I have a particular interest in woodblock print. I’m planning a new body of work that will incorporate larger scale Mokuhanga as well as Western woodblock prints and monotype prints. When planning a body of work my process is to start on a smaller scale in order to feel the medium and respond to its specific nuances. So, with this in mind, I have started a tiny Mokuhanga print that will be a companion to my last one before I apply the process to something bigger.
What has been your biggest technical challenge in Mokuhanga?
When I first started with Mokuhanga I worked with tools that were not specialised for the process as these were the closest I could find in South Africa. Although I was able to make a print I was happy with, I was impeded to some extent. This was especially the case with carving tools. I have since imported most of what I will need from Japan and I am hoping this will translate into a smoother process.
What are you enjoying most about the medium?
I find the process quite meditative, probably because it requires full concentration, but if I have to pinpoint what attracts me to the style, it is the watercolour – the ease of use, the translucence, the natural colour, the clean-up. All of this works its way into the look of the print which is different from my Western oil-based woodblock prints. I enjoy the variation and the exciting prospect of borrowing from different traditional techniques to produce the work that I have in mind. I may for instance print a Mokuhanga underlay with a Western woodblock print in oils over it. To this end, I have already experimented with using Japanese washi paper for Western reduction woodblock print.
What are you looking forward to achieving in this print as opposed to the first one you did?
This print will be similar to the last one in that it is based on watercolour sketches I did earlier this year. I’m looking to create subtle colour in the finished print, with cleaner edges to my carved printing surfaces and less abstracted shapes in the image. I’m using birch plywood as opposed to Jelutong (which I used last time), as I will need to use the birch for a larger scale print and part of the point of this little Mokuhanga is to prepare myself for a larger print.
What advice would you give another artist that is interested in trying Mokuhanga for the first time?
I think that you need some tuition to start on the journey. Try and find reading material or register for the Karuizawa Mokuhanga school for tutorial videos and written explanations. Try to immerse yourself in the style and culture to understand the approach to Mokuhanga print. Appreciate that there are no shortcuts and you need to complete each step in a methodical way. Enjoy this step away from your other work.
Kristen runs an active YouTube account that chronicles her printing processes. You can also find her on Instagram or her beautiful website.
