{"product_id":"tobi-ishi","title":"Tobi-ishi","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e2026\u003cbr\u003eMokuhanga (atenashi bokashi)\u003cbr\u003e3 colours\u003cbr\u003e57 x 46 cm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003ePrice is for unframed work\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTobi-ishi is an atenashi bokashi print, meaning there is no carved impression in the woodblock surface. Soft, borderless colour gradations are build up on the wood surface with ink and brush and transferred to the paper. I layer these gradations further softening any defined outlines. The process is one of finding form through repetition, through preserving negative space and activating the un-inked areas of the print as shapes and forms. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI liken this process of image making to the way that scientists study and map dark matter. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDark Matter is a 1930s scientific idea that was finally embraced by the scientific community in the 1970s as a means of explaining ‘missing matter’ in the universe: matter that doesn’t emit light but which has a gravitational impact on light emitted from distant galaxies. In short, scientists believe dark matter to be a cold, slow-moving mass that allows the universe to function the way it does. It is now described as the invisible glue or network that holds the universe together. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn January this year, astronomers released the most detailed map of dark matter ever created. It looks like a contour map. A map of the invisible. Looking at these maps made me think of a particular work made by fellow Mokuhanga Sister, Lucy May Schofield, at a shibori workshop she attended in Japan in 2024. As if preserving the shifting shadows of a stone by marking the presence of its mass as a negative form, Lucy’s visual language in that project connected the dark matter maps I was studying with the principles of rock placement outlined in Sakuteiki, the oldest Japanese treatise on gardening.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 2\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI have long been fascinated by the development of the dry garden in Japan. Reading Sakuteiki and studying dry garden concepts made my first visit to the now famous dry-stone garden at Ryoanji temple in Kyoto in October 2025 particularly special. Ryoanji’s garden is one of the earliest (possibly the first) of its kind. It was such an incredible moment to experience it for the first time. I had read so many hypotheses that related the rock placement to geometry and folklore. As I sat on the ancient wooden boards that formed the viewing platform for the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ekare- sansui\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, I reflected on these ideas as superfluous to the contemplative purpose of this temple- based garden. It amused me that the Western mindset, so determined to revert to systemic analysis, should attempt to analyze and interrogate such a profoundly nuanced creation of serenity and harmony. The European obsession with abstract thought and logic seemed to negate the effect and purpose of the Japanese garden as one dependent on physical experience and mindfulness. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eConnecting the Ryoanji stones with the scientific pursuit to map invisible, dark matter is the impetus behind Tobi-ishi. The work is a celebration of that which is not fully understood - the illusion of competence, perhaps. In the process of printing, the light of the paper is preserved in relation to the dark indigo and sumi ink. In creating it, I map the ‘missing matter’ of stones placed on the woodblock in terms of the Sakuteiki’s notion of stones as energetic, animated centers of lifeforce (ki) which must be treated with deep respect and reverence. Like the ‘flying stones’ or stepping stones in the tea ceremony garden for which the print is named, Tobi-ishi collates these visual cues as a means of guiding one through a garden of celestial ideas. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Natasha Norman Art","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48083778896035,"sku":null,"price":6600.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0581\/3655\/9779\/files\/Norman_Natasha_Tobi-ishi_Atenashi_bokashi_mokuhanga_22.5_x_18.4_2026.jpg?v=1788510113","url":"https:\/\/natashanorman.co.za\/products\/tobi-ishi","provider":"Natasha Norman Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}