Mike Lyon

Mike Lyon is an American artist widely recognized as a pioneering figure in post-digital printmaking, creating monumental mokuhanga woodblock prints that merge centuries-old Japanese techniques with computer numerically controlled (CNC) technology. Born in 1951 in Kansas City, Missouri, where he continues to live and work as a full-time artist, Lyon studied architecture and fine arts at the University of Pennsylvania (BA, 1973) before completing a BFA in Painting at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1975.

Lyon's interest in Japanese art and culture stretches back to childhood, but his engagement with mokuhanga began in earnest in 1996 when he became a student of Hiroki Morinoue, studying traditional woodblock techniques during five intensive weeks of training between 1996 and 1998. He later studied baren making under Goto Hidehiko in 2017. These foundations in traditional craft, combined with his decades of experience developing computer-controlled electro-mechanical systems for factory automation, led to his groundbreaking innovation: adapting a CNC router to carve the cherry plywood blocks used in his mokuhanga prints.

Lyon's CNC-carved blocks retain the essential character of mokuhanga — the prints are still made using the centuries-old method of water-based inks on handmade Japanese paper, applied by hand pressure through a baren or press. What the technology transforms is the carving process, allowing Lyon to work at enormous scales and with photographic precision that would be impossible through hand carving alone. His large-format portrait prints, some measuring over six feet tall and requiring multiple CNC-carved blocks, achieve a striking synthesis of digital precision and the organic warmth of hand-printed water-based pigments on washi paper.

Lyon's subject matter centers on portraiture, rendered with an intensity and intimacy that belies their technological origins. Works like 'Jessica' and 'Lucy' (both 2024), printed from four blocks at 42 by 77 inches, and 'Danielle' (2024) at 77 by 41 inches, demonstrate his ability to create monumental human presence through the gentle medium of mokuhanga. Earlier works like 'Anthony,' 'Sarah,' and 'Rod' (all 2004) show the development of his technique from smaller-format prints using fifteen to nineteen cherry blocks.

His work is held in the permanent collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Spencer Museum of Art, New York Public Library, Wichita Art Museum, and numerous other institutions. Lyon serves on the boards of Anderson Ranch Arts Center, the Tamarind Institute, and the International Mokuhanga Association, where he has been an international board member since 2018.