Japanese woodblock prints featuring foreigners that appeared after the opening of ports such as Yokohama to international trade in the mid-nineteenth century are broadly referred to as Yokohama-e (or “Yokohama Pictures”). While there are already seminal studies that document the representation of Western peoples in Yokohama-e, those of Asian peoples have not yet received equal attention. This thesis focuses on a group of prints that include the word “all nations” (bankoku) in their titles, particularly those of Utagawa Yoshiiku. Although these prints are currently considered a type of Yokohama-e, they are distinctively different from typical Yokohama-e in their scope, particularly in its inclusion of many Asian and mythical peoples. This study investigates how this group of “pictures of the peoples of all nations” (bankoku jinbutsu-zu) functioned as popular guides to the nations of the world and reflected the domestic new awareness for Japan’s role within it.

corpo interminável e outros corpos apresenta uma série de experimentos poéticos que buscam investigar as possibilidades gráficas da técnica japonesa de xilogravura à base d\'água como modo de expressão na produção atual de estampas. De modo a estabelecer um diálogo entre diferentes perspectivas, o estudo foi iniciado no Departamento de Artes Visuais da Escola de Comunicação e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo e continuado no Departamento de Xilogravura da Universidade de Artes de Tóquio. Resultado de uma pesquisa empírica, que se apoia em observações e experiências vividas, o trabalho resulta de inquietações acerca de um corpo ficcionado e coletivo, que cresce pelas bordas e se desdobra por propagação. Composto por linhas de intensidades variáveis, esse corpo ocupa a superfície conforme combinações harmônicas e multiplicáveis. / endless body and other bodies presents a series of poetic experiments that seek to investigate the graphic possibilities of the Japanese woodblock printing, as a means of expression within the production of printmaking nowadays. In order to establish a dialogue between two very different cultural perspectives, this study has taken place at both the Visual Arts Department of the University of São Paulo and the Printmaking Department of the Tokyo University of the Arts. This essentially empirical research explores the concept of corpus in a dual meaning. Both in a literal sense as the predominance of the human figure in the works, and in a constructed sense referring to an ever-expanding universe of sources. By combining lines of different shapes and intensities, the bodies in the works aim to fill harmoniously the surface through multipliable combinations.

corpo interminável e outros corpos apresenta uma série de experimentos poéticos que buscam investigar as possibilidades gráficas da técnica japonesa de xilogravura à base d\'água como modo de expressão na produção atual de estampas. De modo a estabelecer um diálogo entre diferentes perspectivas, o estudo foi iniciado no Departamento de Artes Visuais da Escola de Comunicação e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo e continuado no Departamento de Xilogravura da Universidade de Artes de Tóquio. Resultado de uma pesquisa empírica, que se apoia em observações e experiências vividas, o trabalho resulta de inquietações acerca de um corpo ficcionado e coletivo, que cresce pelas bordas e se desdobra por propagação. Composto por linhas de intensidades variáveis, esse corpo ocupa a superfície conforme combinações harmônicas e multiplicáveis. / endless body and other bodies presents a series of poetic experiments that seek to investigate the graphic possibilities of the Japanese woodblock printing, as a means of expression within the production of printmaking nowadays. In order to establish a dialogue between two very different cultural perspectives, this study has taken place at both the Visual Arts Department of the University of São Paulo and the Printmaking Department of the Tokyo University of the Arts. This essentially empirical research explores the concept of corpus in a dual meaning. Both in a literal sense as the predominance of the human figure in the works, and in a constructed sense referring to an ever-expanding universe of sources. By combining lines of different shapes and intensities, the bodies in the works aim to fill harmoniously the surface through multipliable combinations.

This thesis details the literary and visual influences in my work, the definition of American Gothic, and its connection it to my work. Literary sources such as Edgar Allan Poe and Fanny Kemble help spark a vision of the landscape. Visual influences include Japanese woodblock prints, scenic wallpapers, vintage postcards and Victorian mourning pictures. My regional explorations span the James River, Tidewater swamps and architecture within the city of Richmond.My work depicts local history and ecology inspired by Richmond and the surrounding region. Subtle Gothic elements add anxiety to the otherwise pastoral scenes. Gothic foreboding in the work questions our ecological future and the permanence of our human presence in the landscape.