Art as a Way to Live - Mika Horie

Art as a Way to Live - Mika Horie

Mar 28, 2021

Mika Horie has moved from the historical city of Kyoto to the rural countryside mountains of Yamanaka, in Ishikawa prefecture, where she is living "life as a farmer" adapting her passion to create art as close to nature as possible. Listen to the talk, or read the transcript here.

Mika harvests gampi weeds and processes it with water from the stream outside her house. She is so inspiring, living her Art, by following her artistic philosophy and passion for sustainability.

I love her stories of drawing manga as a child and admiring her mother's recycling of the family newspapers as how she may have been influenced to pursue sustainable paper-focused art. I also love her stories of visiting paper shops and asking a million questions of the staff to find out more.

I was so inspired talking with Mika's curiousity and her passion for traditional Japanese Washi papermaking as close to nature as possible. Her enthusiasm is infectious!

I share her surprise that the washi artisans are often not celebrated or given credit for their labor intensive, beautiful work. They should at least get credit for their work.

Mika says it takes her a few months at least to complete the entire process of harvesting, making paper, photography and printing- but she has offered a few workshops for kids and visitors for a 90 minute paper-making or print-making workshop.

I love the blue color of her prints, it looks like indigo, although the process is a non-toxic photography technique that originated in England in the 1800's.

Find out more about Mika Horie on her Website | Mika Horie on Instagram | Mika Horie on Facebook

Read more about Mika on InboundAmbassador | Watch the Video of Mika's Interview on SSL

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