Mia O

Mia O is a South Korean-born artist who lives and works in Tokyo, Japan, creating mokuhanga woodblock prints and paintings that channel her deep connection to nature through geometric abstraction and luminous layers of handmade paper. She earned her BFA in Fine Arts from Hong-ik University in Seoul, one of South Korea's most prestigious art schools, before moving to the United States to pursue an MFA in Painting at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Mia's encounter with mokuhanga was transformative and serendipitous. In 2000, while still an MFA student, she discovered ukiyo-e prints at the Brooklyn Museum, an experience that sparked an enduring fascination with Japanese woodblock printing. Three years later, in 2003, she formally studied traditional mokuhanga at the Nagasawa Art Park Artist-in-Residence program, where she learned from master carvers and printers from Kyoto under the guidance of the Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory. The independence and simplicity of the medium captivated her, and she describes the deep connection she feels to each print pulled from the blocks: 'Every mark has been carved, inked and printed by hand — it is an entirely human creation with no mechanical or automated involvement whatsoever.'

After moving to Japan in 2004, Mia developed her practice while raising her daughter, eventually mastering both mokuhanga and painting as complementary modes of expression. She further refined her skills under master baren maker Hidehiko Goto, and began teaching mokuhanga workshops at CFSHE Gallery in Tokyo in 2018. Her work moves outside the traditional rectangular format of mokuhanga through shaped prints, collage, and origami-influenced folding of washi paper. She layers sheets of handmade paper to create luminous surfaces, often joining them by sewing to emphasize the material strength of washi, and channels her feeling for nature into geometric forms that flip and layer to create richly decorative compositions.

Mia O is a member of the Mokuhanga Sisters, an international collective of artists who bonded during shared residencies at MI-LAB and collaborate on exhibitions and educational projects. Her work has been exhibited in over sixty group shows internationally since 2012, including at the Kentler International Drawing Space in New York, the Buster Levi Gallery, the Southern Vermont Art Center, the LUX Center for the Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska, and at the 9th Nakanojo Biennale in 2023. She received a purchase award from the Hawaii State Foundation for Culture and the Arts, securing her work in the Art in Public Places collection, and her prints were selected for the juried exhibition at the 2024 International Mokuhanga Conference in Echizen.