Jacek Machowski - 拉麺 (Sakedō)

Contemporary Woodblock Print

A fabulous print by Jacek Machowski: 酒道 (Sakedo / The Way of Sake). An elongated sake vessel fills almost the entire senjafuda format, its dark printed surface broken only by the bold characters 酒道 near the top - 酒 (sake) and 道 (dō, “the way”). Machowski deliberately softens and disturbs parts of the printed edge, giving the otherwise graphic image a rougher, wabi-sabi character. Hand-printed from a cherry woodblock, the narrow format also makes the work a functional art bookmark. 🍶

• Year: 2023 (signed & dated in pencil).
• Medium: Woodblock. Hand-printed on cherry wood.
• Paper: Betulla Woodstock 350 g/m².
• Dimensions: H: 15.00 cm × W: 5.00 cm. Format: Senjafuda (千社札).
• Condition: Mint. Direct from the artist’s studio.
• Notes: The title 酒道 combines 酒 (sake) with 道 (dō, “way” or “path”), using dō in the same sense as bushidō (武士道) and giving the title the meaning “The Way of Sake.” The work was designed as a senjafuda (千社札), the narrow votive slip traditionally placed at Japanese temples and shrines and later collected and exchanged as small printed works in their own right. Machowski also used the print to explore deliberately softened edges: parts of the cherry wood matrix were lightly undercut and smoothed rather than kept completely sharp, producing a slight blur and irregularity that gives the image its wabi-sabi character. *Irregularity of ink varies.

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.