JUDGE ART COLLECTION

Paper-cut artist Hiromi Mizugai moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in 2004 from her hometown of Kyoto, Japan, the capital city for close to a thousand years before Tokyo.  She began drawing at a young age, and by her teen years, she had already developed a style of her own.  With no formal art training, Hiromi has developed a unique homegrown artistic voice that combines traditional Japanese visual art forms with the super-modernity now found in all of Japan’s biggest cities.  The most obvious reference is to Edo Period Japanese woodblock prints (moku hanga), which had a major influence on her budding artist’s mind early on.

As with woodblock prints, Hiromi’s three-dimensional cut paper pieces are the result of a multistep process which produces an art that is at once amusingly lighthearted and startlingly alive.  Her pieces invite the viewer in; indeed, one feels compelled to reach out and touch the images.  Like the works of all the great masters, Hiromi’s pieces are best appreciated when viewed in person.  Jacksonville is truly privileged to have such a talented and devoted resident artist.