Suminagashi Styles
Over the course of hundreds of prints, one begins to develop there own unique style and techniques. Every suminagashi artist has a style that becomes apparent throughout their prints. There is always a large factor of randomness to every print, however one can coax how the various shapes evolve. Instead of focusing on more traditional suminagashi styles, with alternating rings of color used to marble entire sheets, I enjoy working on the empty space between the ink to cultivate the print. From significant trial and error, I have been able to create various themes and styles of prints.
Below you will find a list of various examples of suminagashi print styles that emerges throughout the Studio Eummae series of prints. These elements form the core of many of my prints, and often times based on the style I will select a particular type of paper which pairs and compliments with the style. Many times you will also see combinations of various styles in a single print, and certain styles influencing others. Due to the nature of the dynamics of the water, ink, and interactions with the boundary layers of the container, certain styles may only be available in certain sizes.
STANDARD
This is the most common and basic style of suminagashi, characterized by the classic look of many concentric alternating rings of ink and space, free floating and lightly manipulated by breath, fan, or moving a stick or needle through the pattern. Typically, the entire sheet is marbled with the resulting in pattern. Although I occasionally wok with this style, and have offered some prints like this, I have focused my techniques more on manipulating and enhancing the empty space between and around the ink, to create more unique and abstract patterns and themes.
FLORAL
One of the earlier styles I have worked with during my initial experimentation phase, Floral patterns are characterized by literal floating floral ink prints between swirling lines. These patterns are created by creating more concentrated concentric rings, then carefully creating the shape of pedals with the tip of a thin razor blade. Often times I will have a single or pair of these scattered in the print, and can be left as is or further manipulated to make a more distorted abstraction of the floral theme.
ANIMAL
This style is a bit subjective, since each person can see different images within a print, but for me, Animal style prints are those with uniquely defined shapes that give off a distinct silhouette of an animal. I most often enjoy creating those reminiscent of jellyfish by carefully breaking a concentric pattern, however other animalistic shapes may randomly emerge. Of all the styles I do, this is perhaps the least controlled, arising purely by luck.
CELLULAR
This particular style that I have developed is one of my favorites, and numerous Cellular prints are in my own personals collection. This style of print gives a very distinctly organic feel, characterized by a cellular like-shape, as if you are looking through a microscope into the microscopic realm. This style is also heavily influenced by Suimonga, which is a more advanced form of suminagashi, aimed at creating distinct images or abstract shapes within the white space of the print, rather than marbling an entire sheet.
MINIMALIST
Sometimes, less is more, and in the case of my Minimalist style prints, I focus on creating a simple image in the free space of the print. Like the Cellular style, this style is also heavily influenced my Suimonga, and while seemingly simple, can lead to some truly sophisticated and beautiful prints. I especially like to pair Minimalist style prints with more specialty papers with textures, to allow both the paper and print to compliment and enhance one another.
SPIRAL
My Spiral type prints arise through movement of the water when laying down the ink. Sometimes this is by chance, but other times it can be forced by carefully swirling the water before beginning the suminagashi print. This style lends itself particularly well to larger sheets, which are done in larger water baths, allowing more more natural movement. This style of print evokes images of galaxies and the swirling vastness of the cosmos, captured in an instant with ink, water, and paper.
FRACTURED WATER
This is a rather unique style of suminagashi which I have been working that is one of my favorites, but extremely challenging to replicate. Under very specific conditions with tank size, tank material, water composition, and how the ink is laid, very unique fracturing edges on the ink forms. When the conditions are right, it is also fascinating to watch when dipping the ink in the water. Instead of smoothly spreading out, the ink spreads highly unevenly in a fractured, almost fractal like manner, spreading with sharp and jagged edges as it moves outwards.
FIBRIL
This style that I have been working on is a variation of both Minimalist and Suimonga styles, where I lay down very thin, fine lines of ink in the water, giving a thread-like appearance. At the end of the print, I select a suitable area to accent, and apply a new, heavier and bolder pattern, usually in a very simple and minimalist fashion, creating a unique print with a large swathe of fine thread-like lines, and a bold area connected to these lines.
SUIMONGA
Suimonga is a little known but beautiful variation to classical suminagashi, taking on more advanced and sophisticated manipulation of the ink in the water. Instead of allowing the rings to freely spread across the surface of the water, filling the entire sheet to be marbled, Suimonga creates a concentrated and focused abstract image at the center of the sheet, giving rise to a beautiful and minimalist print, often evoking highly organic and cellular structures. This technique was developed and pioneered by Takaji Kuroda, an accomplished aerospace engineer and self-taught suminagashi master, whose unique style was later recognized as its own artform. Although my prints inspired by Suimonga do not use colored fabric dyes like the original style, I strive to capture the essence and feel of Suimonga, which can be seen in other variations I do, such as Cellular.
ABSTRACT
Sometimes, a particular print doesn’t quite fit into one specific category, having a much more abstract and open-formed shape. While all Suminagashi can really be classified as abstract, in the case of the prints that I make, I reserve this category ultimately for those prints that move outside the other categories I have defined, lending it to more open interpretations.