published writing-talks-podcasts
Three years in the writing, a lifetime in the making, Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop, A Modern Guide to an Ancient Art, by April Vollmer, was released by Watson-Guptill August 4, 2015. A comprehensive handbook of materials, techniques and resources the book is intended to make this waterbased technique accessible to contemporary artists.
Press Release
Penguin Random House Book Information
Book Review by Ralph Kiggell: Printmaking Today, Vol 25, 2016 Autumn Issue
The California Printmaker: The Journal of the California Society of Printmakers
2023 Changing Gears Edition
Birds on the Edge: Collaboration and Change by April Vollmer
This article describes new collaborative projects developed during the pandemic while caregiving away from home.
Courtesy of California Society of Printmakers
Magazine available from the California Society of Printmakers
A Continenal Divide, My Quarantine Year in Santa Cruz is a book about a year spent in pandemic isolation in Santa Cruz, photographing the birds and thinking about art history. Available from Blurb Books.
The Mid America Print Council Volume 23, Numbers 1 & 2, 2015
The Global Print: practice, platform, and international springboard
Connecting through Printmaking: Mokuhanga and Japan
article by April Vollmer
Grabado y Edición is a bi-lingual Spanish/English review of new ideas in printmaking. My article on the history of mokuhanga begins with an historical overview from ukioyo-e prints to the individualist sosaku printmakers, ending with a discussion of international contemporary artists who use the technique for its flexibility. Illustrated with woodblock prints by Katie Baldwin, Mike Lyon, Michael Schneider, and myself.
Article: GrabadoMokuhangaRenaissance
Subscription: Subscribe to Grabado y Edición
Mokuhanga International was published in Art in Print, Volume 2, Number 2, 2012. The article is a review of the current state of mokuhanga, Japanese woodblock technique, in contemporary art outside Japan. It includes a brief overview of the history starting with the famous Edo period ukiy0-e prints, through the eclipse of the technique during the 20th century, and then the current renewal of interest in the technique for creative artists.
Article: ArtinPrintVol2MokuhangaInternationalArticle
Please support this informative journal of the print world by subscribing, on line or in print, at: Art In Print on line Subscription
International Focus: First International Mokuhanga Conference in Kyoto and Awaji, An overview of the First International Mokuhanga Conference in Kyoto and Awaji, Japan, June 2011 in Graphic Impressions, the Newsletter of Southern Graphics Council International, Elizabeth Klimek editor, Fall 2011, page 15, 16
Floating Worlds, Review of Takuji Hamanaka mokuhanga. Ralph Kiggell, guest editor, Printmaking Today, Vol 26, 2017 Spring Issue.
The Age of the Artist: A Practical Guide for Making a Career Out of Making Art in the 21st Century. (chapter), book edited by Margaret Peot, North Light Books, 2010.
Mokuhanga – Japanese Woodblock Printing. Central Booking Magazine, Maddy Rosenberg editor, November, 2010.
Bridges, New York to Belgrade and Beyond. Contemporary Impressions, Journal of the American Print Alliance, Carol Pulin editor, Spring/Summer 2009, p 24-27.
Intersections of East and West, Contemporary Printmakers in Japan, Contemporary Impressions, Journal of the American Print Alliance, Carol Pulin editor, Spring 2005.
Printmaking as Alchemy: Etching, woodcut and digital printing as tools of transformation. Contemporary Impressions, Journal of the American Print Alliance, Carol Pulin editor, Spring 2003.
Cover: SCIENCE – J. Amer. Assn. for the Advancement of Science, Vol.297, No.5585, 23 Aug 2002.
COVER Fugu rubripes, the poisonous but delicious Japanese pufferfish. The DNA sequence of the Fugu genome is especially useful because it lacks the “junk” sequences (which do not code for proteins) found in abundance in human DNA. [Woodcut print by April Vollmer]
Roman Fugu DNA Edition: hanga woodcut, 1997
Into Digital, Printmaking Today, Winter 2001, Vol. 10, No. 4
Hanga Woodcut Prints, illustrated. OIA Newsletter, Summer 2000
Digital Printing on Kozo Paper. World of Washi, Summer 2000, Vol. 6, No. 3
Moku Hanga: Traditional Japanese Woodcut. Printmaking Today, Winter 1998, Vol. 7, No. 4
2023 Platemark Interview
In Platemark s3e29, host Ann Shafer speaks with April Vollmer, an artist working in mokuhanga (Japanese color woodblock printing), who also wrote the indispensable guide to that form: Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop (Berkeley: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2015).
2023 Animation Collaboration with Susan Rostow
A collaborative stop motion animation created at Pioneer Works, Second Sunday, April 9, 2023, held in conjunction with On the Waterfront: A View from the Coast (Line), a CENTRAL BOOKING exhibition in collaboration with the New-York Historical Society.
2023 Gurshtein, Ksenya, “Artist Talk: April Vollmer | Looking Forward: The Continuing Relevance of Japanese Printmaking,” Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, April 4, 2023
2022 Zadorozny, André, “April Vollmer – Printmaker: The Balance of Paste, Water, and Colour,” (podcast) Interview with April Vollmer about her history with mokuhanga. The Unfinished Print, Popular Wheat Productions, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August 3, 2022
2022 Crites, Alison, Manager of Exhibitions, “Mokuhanga Stories, Four Artists,” The World Between the Block and the Paper Exhibition (video documentation), Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT, February 25, 2022
2021 Kiggell, Ralph, Acting Chair, “The Evolution of Mokuhanga Since 2015 Publication of Book,” (conference presentation) Sumi Fusion, Fourth International Mokuhanga Conference, Nara, Japan, Dec 3, 2021
2019 Hiratsuke, Yuji, Art Professor, “Visiting Artist Lecture: April Vollmer,” (videotaped talk), Oregon State Visiting Artists and Scholars Series, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, January 24, 2019
2017 Morinoue, Hiroki and Setsuke, Chairs, “Bridge-Building, Mokuhanga goes International, Mokuhanga Programs of Keiko Kadota,” (conference presentation) Beauty of Mokuhanga, Discipline and Sensibility, Third International Mokuhanga Conference, University of Hawaii Manoa, Honolulu, HI, Sept 30, 2017
2019 Mary Hood organizer, with Melanie Mowinski and April Vollmer, “Slowness Portfolio,” SLOW, a Symposium in Praxis & Theory MASS MoCA. Presentation about my woodcut print The Architecture of Desire, North Adams, MA, November 1, 2019 (not recorded)
