Jacek Machowski - 拉麺 (Ramen)

Contemporary Woodblock Print

A fabulous print by Jacek Machowski: 拉麺 (Ramen). A black ramen bowl complete with chopsticks, a single yellow egg yolk and the tiny characters 拉麺 worked into the side of the bowl. The noodles are created with karazuri blind embossing, leaving the paper itself to describe their form. A great little piece of contemporary mokuhanga that also works perfectly as an art bookmark. 🍜

• Year: 2024 (signed and dated in pencil).
  
• Medium: Woodblock. Printed from two European cherry woodblocks in two colours with karazuri (空摺り) blind embossing.
  
• Dimensions: H: 15.00 cm × W: 5.00 cm. Format: Senjafuda (千社札).
  
• Condition: Mint. Direct from the artist’s studio.
  
• Notes: Ramen was developed as a companion to Machowski’s earlier sake-bowl print 酒道 (Sakedō). The black bowl is printed from the main European cherry woodblock using gentle pressure so that small abrasions and irregularities remain visible, an effect Machowski relates to wabi-sabi (侘寂) and shibui (渋い). A second block provides the yellow egg yolk, while the noodles are printed without pigment using karazuri (空摺り), pressing their lines directly into the paper as a blind embossing. The work was designed in the traditional senjafuda (千社札) format, and Machowski later adapted the same ramen image into hand-printed chopstick wrappers - a nice extension of his interest in Japanese printmaking, graphic design and everyday printed objects.

About the Artist

Jacek Machowski (b. 1983) is a Polish printmaker and educator who has become an important European voice in contemporary mokuhanga (木版画). Trained at the University of Rzeszów, Japanese water-based woodblock is central to his practice, combining traditional hand-printing with techniques such as bokashi gradation, karazuri embossing and kirazuri mica printing. In 2026, he completed a doctorate devoted to adapting mokuhanga to Polish materials and conditions, and his work has appeared in more than one hundred exhibitions in Poland and abroad, including major international exhibitions in Nara and Echizen.