In Platemark s3e29, host Ann Shafer speaks with April Vollmer, an artist working in mokuhanga (Japanese color woodblock printing), who also wrote the indispensable guide to that form: Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop (Berkeley: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2015).

 

What's mokuhanga, you ask? It's a method developed in Japan that was used to print images that are probably familiar to you, like Hokusai's Great Wave. It allows artists to work with water-based inks (more environmentally friendly) on multiple blocks to build up images, which are printed by hand using a flat paddle called a baren. Each color is carried on a separately carved block and is layered during printing. It means a lot of carving, but it also means one doesn't need a press, chemicals, or a ton of equipment. In other words, it can be done at home in your kitchen.

 

The range of work made possible in mokuhanga is impressive. Once used for ukiyo-e prints (pictures of the floating world) in the Edo period, now contemporary artists from the world over are experimenting with its possibilities. Including April Vollmer.

Episode image: Portia Shao

Shiko Munakata (Japanese, 1903–1975). Night Birds (the fence of…), c. 1967. Sumizuri-e. 19.1 x 29.3 cm. Scholten Japanese Art, New York.

April Vollmer in her studio.

April Vollmer’s studio.

Yasu Shibata (Japanese, born 1968). 6 White Squares, 2014. Set of six mokuhanga prints. Sheet (each): 11 x 11 in. Aspinwall Editions, Hudson.

Tetsuya Noda (Japanese, born 1940). Diary: April 24th ’97, 1997. Woodblock and screenprint. Sheet: 74.1 x 52.8 cm. British Museum, London.

Keiko Hara (Japanese, born 1942). Published by Lily Press. Verse Space—Light of Black Hole, Monotype with collaged mokuhanga woodblock print. Sheet: 30 x 26 in.

Rebecca Salter (British, born 1955). Into the Light II, 2011. Woodblock on Japanese paper. 60 x 90 cm. (23 ½ x 35 ½ in.).

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861). Earth Spider Attacking Raiko, c. 1820. Color woodblock print. 14 5/8 x 29 5/8 in. Fuji Arts, Ann Arbor.

April Vollmer (American, born 1951). Generation, 2002. Mokuhanga on washi. Sheet: 26 x 26 in.

Beyshehir Seljuk rug, 13th century Turkey. Found in the Eshrefoglu Mosque in Beyshehir in 1929 by R.M. Riefshahl. Now in the Konya Museum of Ethnography, Konya, Turkey.

April Vollmer (American, born 1951). Blackout, 2013. Mokuhanga on Gozen washi. Sheet: 38 x 26 in.

April Vollmer (American, born 1951). Eye Cup (Counterfeit), 2008. Mokuhanga and rubber stamp on washi. Sheet: 26 x 11 in.

April Vollmer (American, born 1951). Secret Flower, 2006. Mokuhanga. Sheet: 15 ½ x 15 ½ in.

April Vollmer (American, born 1951). Migrating Gyre, 2008. Mokuhanga. Sheet: 26 x 26 in.

April Vollmer (American, born 1951), printed by Art Print Residence and published by California Society of Printmakers. Great Egret Hunting, from the portfolio Birds on the Edge, 2021. Photo-etching. Sheet: 19 ½ x 15 in.

 

USEFUL LINKS

April’s website: https://www.aprilvollmer.com/

Mokuhanga resources: https://www.aprilvollmer.com/category/mokuhanga-resources/

April’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/april.vollmer

April’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilvollmer_artist/

April Vollmer. Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Art of Mokuhanga. New York: Penguin Random House, 2015. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/231579/japanese-woodblock-print-workshop-by-april-vollmer/

April Vollmer. “Birds on the Edge: Collaboration and Change.” The California Printmaker: The Journal of the California Society of Printmakers. (2023 Changing Gears Edition) April 2023. https://www.aprilvollmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CSP-Birds-on-the-Edge-Vollmer.pdf

Nature in the Floating World: Images of Nature in Japanese and Chinese Art. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University. January 26–May 10, 2023. https://ulrich.wichita.edu/ulrich_exhibition/nature-in-the-floating-world-images-of-nature-in-japanese-and-chinese-art-from-the-ulrich-collection/

International Mokuhanga Conference website https://2021.mokuhanga.org/

International Mokuhanga Conference YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthTUa5XbGaZsaFf_vDeosg

Tuula Moilanen, Kari Laitinen, and Antti Tantuu. The Art and Craft of Woodblock Printmaking. Helsinki: Aalto ARTS Books, 2013. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Craft-Woodblock-Printmaking-Watercolour/dp/B01FIWQXL4

Frogman’s Workshop http://frogmans.net/#workshops

Anderson Ranch https://www.andersonranch.org/

Kentler International Drawing Space, Red Hook https://kentlergallery.org/

11 Women of Spirit Part 7. Salon Zürcher, New York. May 15–21, 2023. https://www.galeriezurcher.com/salon-zrcher-28th-edition-11-women-of-spirit-part-7-may-15-21