Junko Mizuno

Describe your style:
It’s a mixture of all the styles I’ve loved and everything I’ve experienced in my life.

What are the names of your Infectious art pieces and can you tell us a little bit about the pieces and the inspiration behind them?
Full Throttle Witch: the witch first appeared in a painting I did for a horror-themed art show in 2007. She’s a powerful, lone-wolf kind of witch on a hotrod broomstick so I thought she would fit the car art project perfectly.
Zodiac Girls: they were first drawn for the horoscope pages of this Japanese girls’ comic magazine called Shojo Beat. They are inspired by the romantic, girlish tastes that were popular in Seventies Japan.

Can you name three unique things that surround you in your studio right now?
Tiny wooden sculptures of bats, snakes and octopuses that I recently bought in Hong Kong.

A paper-made gift set, also from Hong Kong.

My new electronic dictionary that holds 100 dictionaries inside.

What car or vehicle would you love to see your art on?
A fire engine.

Have you seen any extreme or unusual reaction to your work?
At one of my book signing events, I saw a girl crying with happiness while wearing a pair of angel wings with colorful, blinking lights on them.

If you had to draw yourself a tattoo design what would it be, and where on your body would you have it?
I’m actually thinking about having a little stingray on my hand. The stingray is one of my favorite creatures. I really love their shape. They are beautiful and mysterious.

What websites do you look at for inspiration?
Sushi webcam. It’s inspiring for me to see people working hard and food looking tasty.

If you had to change careers, what would you like to be?
A cashier. I really loved the job when I did it seventeen years ago.

What was your last sketch?
This sketch of a baby monster for my next art show.

Who are the 3 most recent artists you’ve seen and loved?
Henry Darger, [fetish artist] Namio Harukawa and Leonor Fini.

Who are your heroes?
My parents. It must have been hard work to raise a weird girl who never listens to them and keeps drawing like crazy without sleeping.

Lots of your manga comics are based on fairy tales – The Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel – what was your favorite childhood story that your parents read to you?
My mother had this thick book that had many different stories in it. Each story was two-page long and she read me one story a day. The one I remember most was about two kids being kidnapped by a scary old lady in a park and somehow managing to get away.

Are you a toy collector?
If I buy a doll, they have to have something extreme about them such as extremely long hair, extremely crazy colors, extremely big head. I’m also obsessed with fake food and food-shaped goods.

You’ve done a witch for us – have you ever celebrated Halloween in Japan and dressed up in a unique outfit?
No, I’ve never celebrated it. But I do like collecting Halloween costumes, I have a lot of costumes from Leg Avenue like their Little Red Riding Hood, Sherlock Holmes and Nun outfits.

Any interesting projects coming up that you can share with us?
There are two art shows scheduled for this year. One is at my friend’s gallery Moshi Moshi in July and the other is at Mondo Bizzarro in November. My new book, which is a collection of my works from 1996 to 2006 and my new English-translated graphic novel is supposed to be out sometime this year. Also, some toy projects are in progress.

3/4/08