PURCHASE TICKETS

Join internationally renowned printmaking artist Tom Killion for a screening of Journey to Hokusai (2019), a feature-length documentary that intimately follows Tom’s creative process and discovery of the origins of his art. Tom Killion, a woodblock print artist, identifies the 19th century Japanese artist Hokusai as his inspirational master.

When Tom makes his California landscape prints, his most important artistic references are Hokusai's landscape prints. Tom sketches a real landscape just like Hokusai did 200 years ago. He carves woodblocks using Japanese hand tools. When it comes to printing, however, Tom uses a German printing press and oil-based ink unlike the traditional method of printing by hand with watercolor ink.

This film follows Killion's painstaking creative process and his pilgrimage to Japan to study under Kenji Takenaka, a fifth-generation master printer in Kyoto. As he learns new techniques and trades in his oil-based ink for traditional watercolor, Killion discovers more and more about the history of printmaking. His odyssey takes him to a papermaker that is still in business after 1500 years and to the quiet village of Obuse, where Hokusai spent his final years. Journey to Hokusai is an intimate exploration of the connection between two artists from different worlds.

Journey to Hokusai is by Chikara Motomura, an independent filmmaker and Japanese native.

A Q&A with Tom Killion will follow the film screening.

Location: Norma Kershaw Auditorium 

Ticketed Event: Members $15 | General $20

Questions? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 714.567.3677. Proceeds benefit Bowers Museum Education Programs. Tickets are non-refundable.