Japanese artist Takuji Hamanaka takes us inside his Brooklyn studio to explain why he adopted a centuries-old technique to create contemporary woodblock prints.

‘When I started printmaking in Tokyo, Hokusai was one of the artists who was unavoidable,’ says Japanese printmaker Takuji Hamanaka, discussing the enduring influence of the artist who created one of Japan’s most iconic artworks, The Great Wave.

Although two centuries separate Hamanaka from Hokusai, the contemporary artist’s printmaking has been shaped by the same techniques employed by his predecessor. Working in his Brooklyn studio, he begins by pasting an image drawn on fine paper onto wood. Hours of meticulous carving follow — a ‘therapeutic process’ that, Hamanaka admits, requires the patience of ‘a certain type of person’.

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