What does it mean to write? Writing is a very simple task one can do with only a pen and paper. And yet, the possibilities are endless. This popular series from last year comes back with a new lineup of interviewees. To everyone who is involved in writing on a daily basis, what does it mean to write?

What does it mean to write?

Naoko Horiguchi【1】

SEASON2 vol.5

Naoko Horiguchi

To write is to have a conversation
with yourself.

Artist and illustrator Naoko Horiguchi uses paper cutouts, stamps, paint, pens, and more to create beautiful illustrations that mix together various mediums. She designed accessories for the Hobonichi Techo 2020 lineup, such as a Cover on Cover and Folder Set. To Horiguchi, the action of drawing a line with a pen, cutting paper with scissors, and stamping images using a handmade eraser stamp are all acts of “writing.” We visited Horiguchi in her workplace to talk about what she thinks and feels when she “writes.”

ProfileNaoko Horiguchi

Artist and illustrator born in Saitama Prefecture in 1976. Graduated from Setsu Mode Seminar in 1998. Creates figurative and abstract works of art using ink, acrylic paint, rubber stamps, paper cutouts, and more. Works under the motto “try to make anything,” demonstrated through her handmade wrapping paper, calendars, postcards, textiles, and art pieces made of wool.

Designed the following products in the Hobonichi Techo 2020 lineup:
-Cover on Cover: nonohana
-Cover on Cover: iroiro
-Hobonichi Folder Set: tsuta
-Hobonichi Folder Set for A6 Size
-Hobonichi Folder Set for A5 Size
-Hobonichi Translucent Sticky Notes: cross
-Hobonichi Mini Letters Set: Apple and Flower

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Don’t think too much. Just move your hands.

Horiguchi: I always draw and cut while standing up.

ーー: Don’t you get tired?

Horiguchi: It’s fine. I’m more relaxed that way.

ーー: Could you show us a bit of your creative process?

Horiguchi: Sure. This is how I work with the paper.

ーー: I see you use a Frixion pen.

Horiguchi: Yeah, the slim version is easy to write with.

ーー: The paper seems really thin, too.

Horiguchi: This is calligraphy paper. My late grandmother used to teach calligraphy, so there’s a ton of it in our house. I don’t use it every time, but I do use it often.

ーー: What do you think about when you draw? Do you begin with a plan in mind?

Horiguchi: My art sort of comes together while I’m in the middle of making it, so I don’t think of much. I start drawing with a mindset that’s no different from someone scribbling graffiti; once something emerges I can start expanding on it.

ーー: Do you ever start out with a sketch, say in pencil?

Horiguchi: Not really. I don’t like making drafts. [Laughs]

ーー: So you dive right into creating what will be the final image, with no drafts to refer to or ideas already in mind?

Horiguchi: We’ve got plenty of paper, so I just start drawing.

ーー: What about when someone commissions a certain kind of piece from you?

Horiguchi: In those cases I’ll have a vague image to work from, but I’m careful not to overthink it. If I think too much I’ll want to do something completely different by the time I’m halfway through! [Laughs] Before anything else I just focus on moving my hands.

ーー: Has that been your workflow since you began illustrating for a living?

Horiguchi: Yeah, that hasn’t changed much.

ーー: Have you always loved drawing?

Horiguchi: Yes, ever since I was a child. I distinctly remember coloring with crayons in kindergarten—I wanted to use blue, and red, and all the different colors, and I ended up drawing something sort of like a mosaic.

ーー: So not something with animals or characters, but an abstract picture?

Horiguchi: I’m not entirely sure what it was; just a cluster of colors.

ーー: When did you know you wanted to do art for a living?

Horiguchi: At first I was planning on being a hairstylist, because that’s what my aunt did.

ーー: Oh, a hairstylist?

Horiguchi: I wasn’t interested in doing anything in particular. It’s not that I liked or disliked the work, especially, I just figured it would be nice to work with my aunt at her salon.

ーー: Yeah.

Horiguchi: Back then, certified hairstylists had to graduate from a specialty school, do a year of work study at a salon, and then pass a test. I was interning at a salon when I got the opportunity to study art under a university art teacher once a week. They brought the teacher in to polish everyone’s creativity.

ーー: So the salon wanted its employees to get a sense of art. That’s amazing.

Horiguchi: There was a theme every week, and we’d bring in a piece of art we made to match the theme. When I would draw pictures or make collages, I’d think, “Wow, I like this.”

ーー: You enjoyed it even more than hairstyling?

Horiguchi: Right. I realized I wanted to study art, rather than hairstyling, so I started art school. I was at Setsu Mode Seminar.

ーー: The approach there is very unstructured, right? What did you study?

Horiguchi: I trained under the great Setsu Nagasawa—a leading fashion illustrator—to create a fashion sketch portfolio. I took a class in fashion illustration, too, and one on watercolor painting. They gave you so much freedom there that even attending class was optional. No departments, no majors, no grades.

ーー: Not even any grades?

Horiguchi: In a class you might see the students study all their classmates’ work, and point out their favorites, and then the teachers would step in at the very end and point out their own favorites. The classes were so much fun that way.

ーー: So they weren’t classes in the sense we might be used to.

Horiguchi: I had no idea at first! I assumed I’d be going to class with a textbook and taking notes. But when I started I saw the teachers just wandering around the classroom; some students would just sit around and chat. Some of my classmates were students in their twenties, others were professionals in their fifties. It was fun.

ーー: How long did you attend the school?

Horiguchi: Two years. I was 23 years old, but that “3” had a big effect on me. I simultaneously felt like I had all the time in the world and none at all.

ーー: You moved from the strict world of salon training into a school you didn’t even have to attend if you didn’t want to.

Horiguchi: After having to pay such close attention to time, I lost all sense of it. For better or worse, I’m still not remotely punctual. [Laughs] But the relationships I made in those years are still incredibly important to me.

(To be continued)

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