The grain of trees evident in both woodblocks and prints are an under-acknowledged record of aesthetic co-production between human artists and more-than-human beings. Whilst there is literature centred on the relief woodcut print and the resulting visual communication, there is a significant gap in the consideration of the woodblock. Usually seen as a matrix for the dissemination of written language and imagery as prints, there has been little exploration of the woodblock as a vehicle to communicate the presence of our relationship with more-than-human counterparts. Analysing extant woodblocks to inform creative practice-led research processes of cutting, inking and printing, I present new knowledge about the woodblock as a subject with agency inscribed with material histories. Tracing information of human and more-than-human mark-making within fragments can reveal multiple stories of life and wear over time.
 
Drawing on practices based in Japan and Mongolia, I locate continuous engagement with woodblocks as communicators of agentic enaction and as sacred records. Woodblock printmaking is investigated as an exploratory vehicle to illuminate the unseen histories of material remnants as stories that matter as a part of naturecultures. By finding evidence of the lives of trees in woodblocks, I investigate and respond to the temporal dissonance between the slowness of growth within the wood in contrast to the speed of contemporary images. This thesis questions the material presence of multiple species evident within the woodblock as a record of life and our entangled interdependence living and communicating with trees.
 

Julian Laffan is an artist, educator and curator based in Yuin country in Braidwood NSW and Ngunnawal/Ngambri country in Canberra ACT. His practice investigates themes of deep history and connection with place with the materiality of wood as a dynamic presence within a combination of imagery, figurative and sculptural works. He has worked on cross-cultural projects working with communities both overseas and in Australia with carving and relief printing as a language of connection and socio-political vehicle for collaborative practice. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and is held in public collections, including The Print Council of Australia, The Canberra Museum and Gallery, The ACT Legislative Assembly and The Charles Sturt University Art Collection. 

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The School of Art & Design supports Higher Degrees by Research (MPhil and PhD) across Visual Arts, Design, and Art History and Curatorial Studies. The School’s HDR offerings are part of programs offered by the Research School of Humanities and the Arts within the College of Arts and Social Sciences. Both full-time and part-time study options are considered. Higher Degrees by Research offer students the opportunity to undertake detailed investigation on a substantial project amid a vibrant research community. With supervisory support, students are able to work within and beyond traditional methods researching visual art, design innovation, and art historical and curatorial scholarship. Read more.