Mika Horie
Photography on Handmade Japanese Paper
Mika Horie (1984, Kyoto, Japan)
Lives and works in Yamanaka Onsen
I begin by sustainably harvesting wild Gampi trees as my
predecessors did, in such a way that they can grow back
every year from the wild trees, then make all handmade
papers using the bark of the trees and spring water.
At the same time, I take black and white photographs
of the landscape, and use the negatives to make cyanotype
prints on my paper by iron salts and sunlight. The photos
become part of the paper―these indigo and off-white
prints are strong enough to last more than 1000 years.
Everything here constantly and momentarily flows to the past.
Layers of the past are continuously created day by day.
Layers of the past.
Points of time.
The intangible future.
Time never stops and flows naturally.
Indigo symbolizes the earth, plants, and creatures.
I am trying to walk into the flow, then stop thinking a tense,
capture and contrast timelessness and impermanence.
Therefore, I picture indigo.
Education
Master in European Art Practice (Fine Arts), Kingston University London, 2009
Bachelor in Information Design at Kyoto University of Art and Design, 2007
Awards
Selected to be a part of the ‘2018 Art Trail, power by Tesla at Unseen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), 2018
Selected Exhibitions
Haute Photographie (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), 2020
Photo Basel (Basel, Switzerland), 2019
NEKO Project (IBASHO gallery, Antwerp, Belgium), 2019
NEKO Project (Galerie ARGENTIC, Paris, France), 2019
Busan Annual Market of Art (Busan, South Korea), 2019
Art Market San Francisco (San Francisco, USA), 2019
Art on Paper (New York, USA), 2019
On the Planet (Frank Masi’s Art Reality Studio, Los Angeles, USA), 2019
INFINITE GRACE ² (Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, New York, USA), 2018
JCAT SHOWCASE 2018 JAPANISM (One Art Space, New York, USA), 2018
Unseen Amsterdam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), 2018
Photo Basel (Basel, Switzerland), 2018
Photo London (London, UK), 2018
KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa (Ishikawa, Japan), 2017
FEMALE FORCE FROM JAPAN (IBASHO Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium), 2017
SHOW CASE_44 (Ouchi Gallery, New York, USA), 2016
PAN Amsterdam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), 2016
Solo Exhibition
Life is a Circle (KG+ KYOTOGRAPHIE Satellite exhibition, Kamiji Kakimoto, Kyoto, Japan), 2019
WATERFRONT Ⅱ (KG+ KYOTOGRAPHIE Satellite exhibition, trace, Kyoto, Japan), 2018
Kodamasuru (Gallery Misyo, Ishikawa, Japan), 2017
WATERFRONT (trace, Kyoto, Japan), 2017
B3-304 (Ouchi Gallery, New York, USA), 2017
Congress
IAPMA(International Association of Papermakers and Paper Artists) PAPER International
Congress (Brasilia University, Brasilia, Brazil), 2016
Private Collection
Olnick Spanu (New York, USA)
Gallery
IBASHO Gallery (Antwerp, Belgium)
Bildhalle Gallery (Zurich, Switzerland)
Kayotei (Ishikawa, Japan)
Beniya Mukayu (Ishikawa, Japan)
Art 551 (Ishikawa, Japan)
Hotel Ethnography (Kyoto, Japan)
Sokyo (Kyoto, Japan)
Waterfall Mansion & Gallery (New York, USA)
Verne Collection (Ohio, USA)
Art All Ways (Los Angeles, USA)
Media
SAVEUR (USA)
Financial Times (UK)
PHOTOWORLD (China)
Ishikawa TV, Documentary program ‘Shin Furusato Hito-to-Hito’ (Japan)