SHADOWS: JAPANESE WOODCUT

CARDEW GALLERY, WATERLOO CENTRE

4th January - 1st February 2021

“Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadow, the light and dark which that thing provides.” 

- Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows

Exhibition curated by Carol Wilhide Justin in the Cardew Gallery at the Waterloo Centre, presenting work by the Advanced Japanese Woodcut class.

The process of making a Japanese woodcut print is not difficult to understand but the variables can take a lifetime to perfect. The process  combines the nuance of watercolour with the certainties of a woodcut line. It is entirely non-toxic and after a modest outlay you can set up at home. It is an artform all about control of water, how damp the block is , how damp the paper, how wet the watercolour is, how much nori you use - even the atmospheric conditions can play a part. During the long hot summer of 2020, the sunshine cast crisp shadows everywhere.

Japanese Woodcut, in particular the ukiyo-e prints of the Edo period, played a huge role in the development of Western Modern Art. The flat colours, asymmetrical compositions, calligraphic line and importantly the subject matter of everyday Tokyo street scenes made a huge impact on the Impressionists in France. Artists such as Van Gogh  copied their work and his work in turn inspired 20th Century Japanese printmakers such as Munakata. 

Inspired by this exhibition? Click on the images below to try one of Carol Wilhide-Justin’s courses on Japanese Woodcut.