Prelude to Desire (after Utamaro) I - XV
This series of mokuhanga prints was conceived during the MI-LAB residency at the foot of Mt. Fuji in 2019, based on Utamaro’s ‘Prelude to Desire’ series of shunga prints from 1799. These prints take each of his first six shunga studies, overlaying them under a bokashi sky. Each of the seven blocks are carved in yama zakura (mountain cherry wood) and printed in silver watercolour, sumi ink and indigo pigment. Each print in the series is unique.
Prelude to Desire VIII (after Utamaro) was selected for the Sumi Fusion exhibition at the International Mokuhanga Conference in Nara, Japan in December 2021.
Two of the prints in this series are available to view and purchase in the flat files at The Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn, NY.