MHAK

MHAK was born in Aizu Wakamatsu city, Fukushima. Highly inspired by designer furniture and interiors, he has mainly been working on mural painting inside the buildings. He considers painting as a part of interior and the theme for his artwork is to coexist with living environment. He had worked on many hotels and private houses utilizing his distinctive style of curve lines and repetitions. Believing his paintings have to be recognized as an atmosphere rather than an object, MHAK sticks to abstractness. He has showcased his work in the US (NYC, LA and Portland), Argentina (Buenos Aires), Australia (Melbourne, Sidney) and Italy (Milano). Since the April 2011 Fukushima earthquake had occurred, he’s been conducting many art events in his hometown, collaborating with their traditional crafts and tourist spots. He is also active as a member of 81 BASTARDS.

Since my childhood, my dad was able to perform almost anything; he literally could do and know everything, admired indeed. I also want to be an ideal father like him when I have kids in the future.

In my childhood, I was rather active, playing baseball, skiing, and playing around in rivers and mountains. While I loved painting, too, I rather preferred playing outside. I started to be interested in clothes when I was a junior high school student with interior and furniture seen as its extension. When I moved on to high school, my interest toward things of interior gradually began to get intense, adoring the mid-century modern, where I started to come to know various designers; of course, I couldn’t afford their artworks just to be adored all the time as part of my adolescence. At the age of 18 when I came over to Tokyo, I had some money available for myself and I was able to buy what I had deemed cool and wanted to obtain, little by little; at the same time, I secured buddies who had shared interests with me.

Since my childhood, my dad was able to perform almost anything; he literally could do and know everything, admired indeed. Now that I am even more savvy to expertise I am concerned with, I remember I had a strong adoration to him who knew far better and was far more able than I did or was back then. I also want to be an ideal father like him when I have kids in the future.

I found myself gradually getting focused rather on paint. People around me greatly commended works I had drawn, which increasingly led to my confidence, at least a trigger to make me believe I would live in this world.

Since I always wanted to be professionally involved with fashion, I aimed at entering “Bunka”. But with my attendance at high school not enough, I was told that I was not qualified to sit for the entrance exam of Bunka (culture) Fashion College (ouch!). But I couldn’t ever give up, attending another fashion college, As a proverb, “birds of a feather flock together”, goes, the school at Tokyo had a lot of buddies with similar interests and tastes. In addition, as in Tokyo information spreads fast; you can buy anything anytime you want, it was very fresh and fun for me. On the other hand, since I really didn’t want to be disrespected at school as from countryside, I made as much effort to correct my accent as soon; it was as if I had been working hard to acquire the standard accent (painful). Although normally such a college has many from countryside, at the school they all didn’t appear to be one; there must be many like me who didn’t want to be looked down to for such a fashion college.

I appreciate my having attended the fashion college for three years; at the third year, I found myself gradually getting focused rather on paint. People around me greatly commended works I had drawn, which increasingly led to my confidence, at least a trigger to make me believe I would live in this world. I think without those buddies, I wouldn’t have become a painter. I still keep a good relationship with those buddies back then; I sometimes work with them, indeed a great treasure for me. It is them that kindly purchased my paint drawn for the first time, too.

the stance of a brand I worked for was not fitted to me anyways. Instead of competing with things deemed cool, the mainstream was to do with things just sellable, in which I worked and by which I was influenced, as I in the end had to give up for the lack of potential for my own growth.

I did enter an apparel company once. Thus, I knew some about what it would relationship-wise take to belong to an organization, but at the time, the stance of a brand I worked for was not fitted to me anyways. It may concern ages. It was an age when they did businesses not for cool things but for sellable things, which I personally rather hated as not stylish. Instead of competing with things deemed cool, the mainstream was to do with things just sellable, in which I worked and by which I was influenced, as I in the end had to give up for the lack of potential for my own growth. I thought if I wanted to do cool things or what I had wanted to do, the only option left for me was to go independent, which was too short-sighted in hindsight (indeed).

After I also promised to my parents that I would quit if I couldn’t be successful up until I was 30 years old, I indeed rushed forward; even when I didn’t have much money, I tattooed the part below my elbow to show my determination for such sole future direction, giving up on a so-called “decent” life to be led (smirk). At first, I didn’t know anything at all about what would bring you money. I just secured orders through the connections I made when I had designed clothes from my seniors and friends back then, not knowing how to make money in the least. Then, in order to meet as many people, I started to play around at nights, too. Over time, I came to know people who played live paint at clubs back then and was offered to work with them, thereby expanding my network. Of course, I was drawing MOKOMOKO back then already, which did not look like the current one but was drawn with the possibility for me also to be recognized by the world around constantly in mind. As its external forms might change in the future, the essence of my MOKOMOKO will remain as it is.

As I’ve lived just on my ungrounded confidence, my thought is utterly positive, by which I’ve managed to survive my unrewarded years. I might’ve been childish, but as the result of my having moved forward with that sprit, I as I am now might be right here, alive.

What perplexed me most was that I couldn’t even pay the rent (pinched). I was shouldered with debts I didn’t know how to pay back, also enormously burdening my parents, brothers, and then-girlfriend. I don’t know how many times I was told to quit…, instead to work decently, which was righteous as I actually couldn’t make a living by myself (starving), But each time I was told that, I retorted, “it should be ok, so wait.” (unsure). As I’ve lived just on my ungrounded confidence, my thought is utterly positive, by which I’ve managed to survive my unrewarded years. I might’ve been childish, but as the result of my having moved forward with that sprit, I as I am now might be right here, alive. Though I can’t remember correctly, the time I started to be able to barely eke out was around in my late 20’s. I am rather affluent compared to me at that time; but you can’t deny there is a possibility that I will abruptly lose all the orders in the future. As there are a lot of things I am supposed to do, I am not satisfied with myself yet at all. Well, the professional race like ours probably can’t be satisfied for a lifetime, I admit (frankly).