Marianna Maslova
Plantain, 2021
mokulito
print size 21x26 cm
Kyiv
What is mokulito?
Mokulito (“wood lithography” in Japanese) is a technique developed in Japan in the 1970s by Ozaku Schisi, and more recently by Polish printmaker Ewa Budka and her father Josef.
Like traditional lithography, mokulito relies on the fact that water and oil do not mix and the image is drawn using greasy inks and crayons onto the printing matrix or plate. For mokulito, the image is drawn on a plywood plate, offering the opportunity to make large prints relatively economically. Because wood is an organic substance, the image changes slightly each time the plate is printed, meaning that editions are small and variable, with results depending on factors such as the species and age of the particular piece of wood and the weather. As the printing session progresses, the grain of the wood gradually becomes more dominant, often producing the evocative veils of colour that are so characteristic of this technique. A particular advantage of using wood as the printing matrix is the possibility of combining mokulito with woodcut, which can be used to produce contrasting sharp lines and textures that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.
(info from https://www.eastlondonprintmakers.co.uk/)
