This week’s Artist Spotlight is about Hiroyuki Tajima, an artist who produces incredibly abstract woodblock prints using a traditional Japanese woodblock printing style known as Sosaku Hanga, which is one of the three traditional woodblock printing styles. I came across Hiroyuki Tajima’s art when I was first researching Japanese woodblock printing for my high school newspaper, where the Artist Spotlight column was born. At the time, I was investigating Ukiyo-e woodblock printing; this style was created in the 17th century with the purpose of producing detailed images of Edo-period palace quarters, along with popular myths and legends. Incredibly, these immensely detailed hand-carved prints were mass produced and sold to regular citizens for an affordable price. Considering the sophistication of some of these works, it is amazing to think that so many people possessed them at the height of their popularity.
Unlike Ukiyo-e, the Sosaku Hanga style originated nearly two centuries later, alongside the Shin Hanga woodblock printing style. Unlike the Shin Hanga style, Sosaku Hanga artists sought to maintain a creative approach that rejected Westernization and promoted abstract Japanese traditionalism. This is evident in Tajima’s artworks, which typically feature abstract industrial textures and darkly colored smothered designs. What makes Tajima’s Shin Hanga so special is the fact that each individual detail in his pieces was carved by hand. The process of Japanese woodblock printing is incredibly tedious; woodblock prints start out as a sketch drawn on paper, which is then transferred to the woodblock by carving. Once the ink sketch has been transferred, the first woodblock has been completed. This block is used for the black outlines of the print. Separate blocks are made for coloring in the outlines. The first woodblock is covered in ink, and the paper is pressed into the woodblock. This same process is repeated for the separate woodblocks. When I first covered Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s Ukiyo-e prints in my high school newspaper, I was already impressed with just how much detail there was in his figurative artistic style. What makes Tajima’s work so much more impressive is the fact that he renders such minuscule abstract detail using woodblock carving.
A great example of this is Tajima’s Creation, a beautiful print that is reminiscent of something straight out of the original 1984 Dune film, which is filled with dark brown industrial set pieces. Tajima’s piece incorporates a very similar clay-colored texture but contrasts it with an aqua-blue hue in the background as if there is a bioluminescent Avatar-like creature lurking below the surface. The patterns are also unique, as Tajima generates a spore-like pattern in the foreground. His pieces are pleasing to the eye, but for relatively contemporary work, it is refreshing to see a lack of modern symbolism and more of a focus on creating.
Overall, I think that it is inspiring that Tajima decided to take an innovative approach to a traditional artistic style. It makes me curious about what other traditional artistic methods can be recycled for a modern audience.
