Paul Furneaux – Blue Room: Kanasawa

Paul Furneaux was born in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, in 1962 and studied Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art (1982-1987). Winning the Monbusho Scholarship in 1996, Furaneaux was able to begin comprehensive research into the art of woodblock printing and undertook a Masters degree in the subject at Tama Art University, Tokyo (1998-2000). During his time in Tokyo, Furneaux developed his interest in the Mokuhanga printmaking technique which has underwritten his practice ever since. Furneaux has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the RSA Salvesen Scholarship; the RSA Gillies Bequest Award and the Hope Scott Trust Award. In 2006 he was elected a Member of the Royal Scottish Academy. A Master Printmaker and highly-regarded authority on printmaking in Scotland, Furneaux regularly leads workshops and demonstrations in the Mokuhanga technique. He lives and works in Edinburgh

“This year I am particularly excited to introduce to our platform the abstract mokuhanga (woodcut prints) of Scottish artist Paul Furneaux. There is a radical beauty in the layering of colour, line, surface and the residual woodgrain that is both visually eloquent and absorbing. Using a simplified and abstracted language the elements of sky and horizon meeting land are hinted at rather than overly described. Furneaux trained at Edinburgh College of Art and Tama Art University, in Tokyo. He has returned to Japan over the past 20 years to continue to explore the contemporary potential of this exacting form or image making.” – Meryl Ainslie