Paul Furneaux RSA creates abstract works using the traditional Japanese woodblock printing technique of mokuhanga. This inherently beautiful and simple process has allowed his practice to develop in a contemplative and semi-abstract direction. Working with water-based pigments, hand-carved blocks, and a disciplined layering method, he embraces both precision and subtle unpredictability within the medium.

 

His interest in landscape and his concern for the environment are ongoing yet understated themes. A central dynamic in his practice lies in balancing the limitless possibilities of his materials with an intuitive approach to abstraction. He combines the controlled cutting typical of many Japanese printmakers with a more expressive visual language, often associated with Western woodcut traditions. The result is work that is at once restrained and gestural, meditative yet immediate.

 

“With the knowledge I have accumulated over twenty years, I still submit to the element of chance. Long hours in the studio spent on careful planning, cutting, and printing are interspersed with seemingly mad moments of activity, sometimes changing a work dramatically. The reverse also happens, where forceful creative energy is set aside to complete a piece with the softest, most delicate bokashi (fade technique) or a few tiny cut marks. I also employ varnish resist (a technique with a contemporary feel) in often unexpected ways, at times exaggerating the beauty of the wood grain. I like to promote mokuhanga, an ancient form of print, as a vibrant and valuable contemporary medium.” Paul Furneaux RSA.