| Title | Japan Blues |
| Artist / Creator | Imi Maufe |
| Artist's Nationality | Norway |
| Place of Publication | Bergen, Norway |
| Publication Date | 2015 |
| Process / Technique | Screenprint and rubber stamp |
| Structure / Binding | Single sheets housed in a box |
| Paper Stock | Japanese wooden postcards, somerset paper |
| Number of Pages | 13 pages |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 4.75 x 6.5 x 2 inches closed. |
| Edition Size | Variable edition of 10 |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed and numbered edition |
Japan Blues is the result of a recent trip to Japan. This was a trip of pure wanderlust, I wasn’t in Japan for work, but as a traveller by train. Opening my eyes to a new country, I was intrigued by the culture and landscape, and started to notice a colour in the landscape that I was not used to—blue. This vibrant colour stuck out in various unusual situations. Objects that I am used to being orange to show their visibility were blue or ones normally green to blend in were blue. Road cones, quayside bollards—blue; rubbish bags, compost heaps—blue. In souvenir shops I found thin wooden postcards that were either plain or had an image of a local tourist site rubber stamped on them. So with a combination of the postcards and images of blue objects Japan Blues is my take on the experience I had in Japan and also the feeling I had when returning to my everyday European life.
Artist Bio
Imi Maufe (b.1974, Norfolk, UK) completed her MA in Multi-disciplinary Printmaking at the University of the West of England, Bristol, in 2004. She has undertaken residencies ranging from a year with Visual Arts in Rural Communities (VARC) in Northumberland, UK from 2007/08 to being an artist onboard a sailing ship during the Tall Ships Races 2011 for Shetland Arts, UK. Maufe works with books, prints and a combination of artefacts that are often housed in boxes, which document and contain journeys and events under the theme of 'Translating Travels'. She shows at book art fairs internationally and work can be found in collections such as Victoria and Albert Museum, British Library and Tate Library Collections, London. Maufe is a member of the artist-run studio Bergen Ateliergruppe, Norway, her adoptive home since 2009 and is a member of the Norwegian Association for Visual Art and Norwegian Printmaking Society.