When it’s time to practice mokuhanga outside of your comfort zone, there are several places you can go. Seminars and workshops in your hometown are great options, but what if you want to experience something different—a new culture, a new space, a new environment? One such setting is the Mokuhanga Project Space (MPS) in Walla Walla, Washington, United States. This residency allows mokuhanga artists to explore their medium in new and challenging ways.

In this episode of The Unfinished Print, I speak with Keiko Hara, mokuhanga artist and co-founder of Mokuhanga Project Space, and Benjamin Selby, mokuhanga artist and Advisory Board Member at MPS. We discuss Keiko Hara’s life and work, her prints, and the development of MPS. We also explore how Mokuhanga Project Space is currently run, the significance of Walla Walla, Washington as a home base, and the importance of residencies in an artist’s practice. Additionally, we examine mokuhanga as a developing art form, comparing its philosophies in the West versus its perception in Japan. And finally, we touch on key concepts such as tradition and innovation in mokuhanga and so much more.

Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints or email me at [email protected]

Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase.

Artists works follow after the note if available. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise noted. Dimensions are given if known. Print publishers are given if known. For more show notes, please enjoy older episodes of The Unfinished Print. 

Mokuhanga Project Space - website 

Keiko Hara - website

Topophilia - Red Shoes (Installation 2017)

Benjamin Selby - Instagram

Untitled (2024) 41.5x31cm

© Popular Wheat Productions

opening and closing credit - Evening Chimes in Japan

logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André Zadorozny 

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***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular Wheat Productions.***