Wood-flux is a concept that refers to a Japanese genre of woodblock prints on silk and paper called Ukiyo-e, meaning “pictures of the floating world.”
Inspired by the caliber of Ukiyo-e woodblock and the textile pattern of Phuong My’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection, artist Nguyen Huu Tram Kha showcases various fascinations of a wood-flux.
Ukiyo-e art prospered from the 17th to the 19th century in Edo (today’s Tokyo), thanks to its patronage by the merchant class, which gained them higher recognition in Japan’s then social hierarchy against the elitist military dictatorship. Instead of realistic depiction, Ukiyo-e prints of natural scenes, such as seascape and flora, were imaginative visions about the world.