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The Unfinished Print : A Mokuhanga PodcastAuthor: Andre Zadorozny
The Unfinished Print is a podcast dedicated to exploring the art of Japanese woodblock printing, or mokuhanga. It offers an in-depth look at the printmakers, carvers, gallerists, and collectors involved in this unique art form. Through interviews, Andre Zadorozny, a mokuhanga printmaker himself, delves into what mokuhanga means to so many people. Language: en Genres: Arts, Design, Visual Arts Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Aafke Ytsma - Printmaker : Subconscious Worlds
Tuesday, 29 September, 2026
One of the things that I have observed about mokuhanga printmakers is that they are always striving to get better in their practice. Mokuhanga is a printmaking medium that challenges the maker in many different ways, and navigating those challenges through hard work and experimentation can ultimately be a very rewarding experience. On this episode of The Unfinished Print, a mokuhanga podcast, I speak with Aafke Ytsma, a printmaker currently splitting her time between Germany and the Netherlands. Aafke is a full-time artist who pushes the possibilities of what one can do with mokuhanga. We discuss how and why Aafke makes such large prints, and how watercolour influences her work. Aafke tells me about her love for the prints of the sōsaku-hanga movement and how they inspire her own practice. We also talk about the risks and rewards of being a full-time artist, crowdfunding and grants. Aafke goes into detail about how she makes her prints through mark-making, and how that process shapes her work. Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints or email me theunfinishedprint@gmail.com 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. Aafke Ytsma - website, Instagram Slidingdoor (2023) 28.5 cm x 39 cm Sabuchan (2024), 98 cm x 68 cm from the series Summer Autumn Prints Rijksmuseum — The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is the Netherlands' national museum, with a collection spanning more than 800 years of Dutch art and history. It is particularly known for its holdings of works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals, and other major Dutch artists, as well as its extensive collection of prints, drawings, photography, and decorative arts. More info, here. More info, here. Art Collective Schaum — Schaum is an art collective focused on contemporary artistic practice and collaboration. The collective brings artists together around shared interests in experimentation, exhibition-making, and developing work outside more traditional institutional structures. More info, here. Kitaro Paper — Kitaro is a Japanese paper from Echizen, Japan and is associated with traditional papermaking and the production of papers suitable for fine art and mokuhanga. Its papers are valued for qualities such as strength, absorbency, surface character, and their ability to withstand the demands of techniques such as woodblock printing. More info, here. Mondriaan Fund — The Mondriaan Fund is the public fund for visual art and cultural heritage in the Netherlands. It supports artists, institutions, curators, and other cultural organizations through grants and programs intended to encourage artistic development, international exchange, exhibitions, and public engagement. More info, here. David Hockney (1937-2026) — was a British artist whose career has encompassed painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, stage design, and digital art. Associated particularly with the Pop Art movement of the 1960s, Hockney is known for his vivid depictions of landscapes, swimming pools, interiors, and everyday life, as well as his continued experimentation with new technologies and media. A Bigger Splash (1967) 242.5 cm x 243.9 cm - acrylic Liquitex on a white cotton duck canvas Elise Wessels — Elise Wessels (1943–2023) was a Dutch collector and patron of Japanese prints whose collection, known as Nihon no Hanga, became one of the most important collections of 20th-century Japanese printmaking outside Japan. Beginning in the 1980s, she collected both sōsaku-hanga and shin-hanga, eventually building an exceptionally comprehensive collection. She founded the private museum Nihon no Hanga in Amsterdam in 2009, and in 2022 donated more than 1,100 prints to the Rijksmuseum. Maureen de Vries - was the curator of the Nihon no Hanga museum in Amsterdam. Her interview with the Unfinished Print can be found, here. bokashi - is a mokuhanga technique, where the pigment fades from a heavy colour to a softer, broad colour. Made famous by prints designed by Hokusai and Hiroshige, this technique is, for me, the most popular technique utilized by mokuhanga printmakers. There are various types: Ichimoji-bokashi or straight line graduation, used in the above mentioned Hiroshige and Hokusai prints. Ichimoji-mura-bokashi or straight line gradation with uneven edge. Ō-bokashi or wide gradation, Ate-nashi-bokashi or gradation without definition. Futa-iro-bokashi or two tone gradation, and ita-bokashi or softer-edge gradation, where the block is cut in a specific way to achieve this style of gradation. All of these styles of bokashi technique take practice and skill but are very much doable. Below is a fine example of bokashi by the printer of this Hiroshige print - Hiroshige (1797-1858), Shono ,(1832-1833) from The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido 22.9 cm × 35.6 cm SieboldHuis — The SieboldHuis is a museum in Leiden, Netherlands, dedicated to Japanese art, culture, and history. Housed in the former residence of Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold, the German physician and Japan scholar who lived in Japan in the 19th century, the museum displays objects from his extensive collection, including prints, paintings, ceramics, lacquerware, maps, and natural-history specimens. It provides an important connection between Japan and the Netherlands and regularly presents exhibitions exploring Japanese art and culture. More info, here. Kawanishi Hide (1894–1965) — Kawanishi Hide was a self-taught sōsaku-hanga artist who lived and worked throughout his life in Kobe. Inspired by Yamamoto Kanae, he began making woodblock prints in the early 20th century and became an important figure in the creative print movement, exhibiting with the Japan Creative Print Association from 1923. His work is particularly associated with the port city of Kobe, which provided many of his subjects, and is distinguished by bold, vivid colours, simplified forms, and his deliberate avoidance of black outlines. He often used a rounded chisel to soften the edges of his forms, giving his prints a distinctive, almost graphic quality. Sunset (?) 12.5 cm x 15 cm Gotō Hidehiko - is a master baren maker and printmaker based in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. His interview with The Unfinished Print can be found here. More into at the Baren Kikuhide website. Beyond The Night (1995) 55.5 × 40 cm passe-partout - is the French word for picture mat for framing. Daniel Kelly - is a visual artist and printmaker based in Kyoto, Japan. Daniel Kelly has shown all over the world, and is many museum collections as well. More information can be found, here. Daniel's interview with The Unfinished Print can be found, here. Thief (2026) 96 × 66 cm - chine-collé & mokuhanga gomazuri - is a mokuhanga technique where slight pressure is used with pigments to make a "spotty" image, what look like sesame seeds. It can add depth to your prints. Historically it was seen as a lack of printing proificiency. Night, Light, Rain (2024) 29 cm x 43.5 cm by Terry McKenna. Notice the gomazrui in the blue circle. hon baren - a top of the line hand made baren made by craftsmen in Japan. It comes in different strands, 8, 12, and 16. Can be order from Gotō Hidehiko, here. baren suji zuri - is a mokuhanga technique used with the baren and by the baren to create a circular design and can be layered with various colours. A more detailed description of baren suji zuri can be found, here at woodblock.com © Popular Wheat Productions Opening and closing musical credit - There Is No Greater Love by Chet Baker (1965) logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André Zadorozny Disclaimer: Please do not reproduce or use anything from this podcast without shooting me an email and getting my express written or verbal consent. I'm friendly :) Слава Українi If you find any issue with something in the show notes please let me know. ***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print: A Mokuhanga Podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular Wheat Productions.***
