Tuula Moilanen - Printmaker : Life Is An Experiment

When it comes to the idea of longevity, my guest on this episode of The Unfinished Print has just that: the hard work and sacrifice to make a career in making mokuhanga, bringing the art form to people worldwide. 

 

Today I speak with mokuhanga printmaker, graphic designer, and writer, Tuula Moilanen. Currently living in Finland, Tuula has made mokuhanga for almost 40 years and has been an essential part of the worldwide mokuhanga community, teaching, instructing and overseeing the art form’s growth.

 

Tuula speaks about her twenty years in Japan, her teachers, and how she views her mokuhanga. We discuss creating work, social media, and the philosophy of art. 

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. Publishers are given if known.

Tuula Moilanen  - website

Tetsuya Noda -is a respected printmaker and artist who works with photography, mokuhanga, and serigraphy (silkscreen). Was head of the printmaking department at the National Fine Arts and Music University in Tōkyō until 2006. More info can be found here. 

Diary: Nov. 7th ‘68  (#1) 31 15/16" × 31" (1963-1976)

Akira Kurosaki 黒崎彰 (1937-2019) - was one of the most influential woodblock print artists of the modern era. His work, while seemingly abstract, moved people with its vibrant colour and powerful composition. He was a teacher and invented the “Disc Baren,” which is a great baren to begin your mokuhanga journey with. At the 2021 Mokuhanga Conference in Nara, Japan there was a tribute exhibit of his life works. Azusa Gallery has a nice selection of his work, here.

 

Meeting of Comets (1980) 5.7"x 3.9"

 

Kyoto Seika University - is a private university based in Kyōto, Japan. It is a university focused on art and scholarship. More info, here. 

 

nagashizuki - is a style of paper making in Japan. This way of making paper creates a strong, translucent paper good for multiple uses. For a more detailed analysis of creating this type of washi check out Awagami's description, here. 

 

shodo -is the name attributed to calligraphy in the Japanese style, which involves writing characters using a brush and ink.

mokulito - a type of lithography which incorporated woodblock. Artist Danielle Creenaune uses mokulito in her work. She has a fine detailed explanation on its uses, here.  

 

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

 

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) - is considered one of the last “masters” of the ukiyo-e genre of Japanese woodblock printmaking. His designs range from landscapes, samurai and Chinese military heroes, as well as using various formats for his designs such as diptychs and triptychs.

 

Taira Kiyomori from the series Meiko hyaku yuden 名高百勇傳

published by Izumiya Ichibei 

 

Keizo Sato - is a mokuhanga printmaker who owns and operates a shop in Kyoto making reproductions of ukiyo-e prints. He has demonstrated at the International Mokuhanga Conference, in 2011. Has been associated with the Adachi Foundation of Woodblock Print Preservation. 

 

takuhon - is a style of printmaking one in which the pigments are rubbed into the washi with a type of pad. Printmaking At Newcastle University on YouTube has a fine video about the process, here. 

 

hyōgu - is a traditional Japanese process of mounting calligraphy and paper works such as paintings.

 

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.  

 

European woodcuts - woodcuts began in Europe in 1400; the woodcut/woodblock tradition has long been in Western Europe. These prints gained prominence during the late Middle Ages (500-14/1500 AD) and the Renaissance (14th Century - 17th Century AD), spreading visual information from religious iconography to political propaganda. Some famous artists we know today are Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and Titian (? - 1576). 

 

© Popular Wheat Productions

opening and closing musical credit - Put It Down by Otis McDonald, John Patittuci, and Mike Chiavarro, from their single Put It Down released on TrackTribe (2023)

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 :)

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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.***