Mayumi Inoha

I grew up with anime and manga around me since childhood, and was doodling whenever I had time.

I never considered “not drawing” as an option, so I studied design at an art university,

and worked as a designer after graduation.

The reason I chose design over painting, to be blunt, was to earn a living.

Since I could draw, I got offered to do more illustrations along with designs, and started to replicate characters from anime and manga. I kept drawing during my off-work hours.

Designs and illustrations are mainly ordered and printed by ad agencies, 

and therefore, for the sake of the ad agencies and the potential buyers who pick up the printed materials, in order to sell them, the needs of the ad agencies and potential buyers take priority.

As for paintings, on the other hand, although they are based on the rules of modern art, I could paint whatever I wanted, however I wanted, and whether they sold or not was based on my tastes and intents.

Somewhere along the way, design and illustration became my job, and paintings became an escape where I could paint what I wanted and express myself.

Design, illustration and painting may seem like the same thing in that they are all “drawing,” but in my mind, they were completely different things, and I didn’t even have a doubt as I painted.

However, as I kept painting, I felt sympathy towards “Superflat,” founded by Takashi Murakami.

So, I started to incorporate portrayals that brought a stronger anime or manga feel, and expressions such as Bézier and solid-color fill from Adobe Illustrator, which I learned from and use for my work, to my paintings.

Then, considering the division I created between design and illustration, and painting, I started to think, “Is this right?” “Can’t I go back and forth more freely?”

From there, I began creating my work contradictorily using both digital and analog, and both Japanese and Western paintings, by creating the sketches digitally, then breaking down motifs with a Japanese feel to the canvas, and finally coloring them with acrylic paint.

​

I am not thinking about abandoning design and illustration in order to paint, but instead incorporating them and express the worldview I want to show through a filter that is myself.