Episode Details

Mia O is one of the most interesting and creative mokuhanga printmakers working in the medium, today. Her work moves outside the traditional formats of mokuhanga, through shape, collage, colour, and even the folds of washi.

Join me on this episode of The Unfinished Print where I speak with Mia O about how mokuhanga has been such an important part of her life. We discuss specific pieces of hers and how they were made, her life in Japan and how her environment inspires her. Mia also delves into her collaboration with The Mokuhanga Sisters Collective, and her time at Nagasawa Art Park.

Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints Twitter @unfinishedprint, or email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com

Artists works follow after the note about them.

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

Artists works follow after the note. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise noted.

Mia O - website, Instagram

Brooklyn Museum - is a museum located in New York City in the Borough of Brooklyn. With a history which stretches from 1823, the current museum was founded in 1898. It contains predominantly American works of art. More info, here. intaglio printing - is a printing method, also called etching, using metal plates such as zinc, and copper, creating "recessed" areas which are printed with ink on the surface of these "recesses." More info, here. The MET has info, here. Keiko Kadota - (d. 2017) was a director of MI Lab and of Nagasawa Art Park, previously. She was a mentor to many mokuhanga practitioners and helped to promote mokuhanga around the world. Nagasawa Art Park (MI Lab) Awaji City - Nagasawa Art Park was an artist-in-residence program located in Awaji City, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It was open for 12 years before evolving into MI Lab in 2012. More info, here. Awaji Island - is located in the Seto Inland Sea in Japan. It is famous for its Naruto whirlpools, the longest suspension bridge in the world in the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. It is also a connection to both Shikoku Island, and the main land of Honshu. More info can be found, here. CfSHE Gallery - is a gallery located in Chiyoda, Tōkyō. It is associated with MI Lab. More info, here. Their Instagram can be found, here. hanmoto system - is the Edo Period (1603-1868) collaboration system of making woodblock prints in Japan. The system was about using, carvers, printers, and craftsmen, by various print publishers in order to produce woodblock prints. The system consisted of the following professions; publisher, artist, carver, and printer.

kentō - is the registration system used by printmakers in order to line up the colour woodblocks with your key block, or outline block, carved first.

shina - is a type of Japanese plywood used in mokuhanga. Not all shina is made equally, buyer beware.

powdered pigments - have been used in mokuhanga since the Edo Period (1602-1868). Mineral pigments can still be used but are gener