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Yasuyuki (Yasu) Shibata, a graduate of Kyoto Seika University where he studied printmaking and papermaking, came to the United States from Japan in 1991. He had apprenticed in the traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e woodcut techniques at the Sato Hanga Studio in Kyoto and developed his wood carving techniques under the tutelege of the master Japanese woodcutter, Osamu Hotta. During the past decade, Yasu worked as a fully qualified Ukiyo-e masterprinter at Tyler Graphics in Mount Kisco, New York with Helen Frankenthaler, David Salle, Frank Stella, Donald Sultan, and Masami Teraoka. In February 2001, Yasu began his work on Emma/Woodcut by Chuck Close at the Pace Editions Ink Workshop in New York. It will have taken him almost two years to complete this remarkable example of collaboration and virtuosity. The Printmaking Process Yasu made color separations for each color that Chuck Close had created in his original painting. He ultimately carved 27 blocks out of a combination of basswood and maple plywood that would eventually carry 113 colors and be printed 132 times for each sheet of paper. The process of carving the blocks took approximately 20 weeks. Prior to printing, the Shiramine paper was calendered and hand sized with Nikawa which is similar to rabbit skin glue. In a weekly cycle, 30 pieces of paper that were to be printed that week were dampened on Sunday, kept in plastic during the week to maintain their moisture, and finally placed on the drying rack at the end of the week. Each day, Yasu was able to hand print two to three runs on each batch of 30 prints. The inks were prepared by Yasu from ground dry pigments, mixed with water and kept refrigerated. The area of the woodblock that was to be printed was dampened each time with a brush before the ink was applied. Yasu next applied the pigments from a bowl to the block with a brush. A second brush called a hake was then used to spread the ink to its proper consistency onto the block. The blocks were registered with small notches cut into the corner of each block. Yasu then using a baren printed each inked area of each block. He repeated this process 132 times for each print.
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Chuck Close
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