Art and Culture: British artist Molly Maine’s Exhibition - Nomad - A Narrative Print Series from Travel Experiences

British illustrator and designer Molly Maine's Nomad: Perspectives on Home in a Changing Japan exhibition delves into the shifting notion of ‘home’- juxtaposing modern digital nomad lifestyles with Japan’s centuries‑old sense of rooted place.

"The exhibition explores a new era of digital nomadism in Japan, and questions the meaning of home, inspired by stories collected during my recent residency in Kanazawa (Japan). It’s a project that’s personal, shaped by nearly a decade of living nomadically," explained Maine.

This is Molly Maine's first solo exhibition running from 4–13 July 2025 at London’s 67 York Street Gallery, Marylebone.

Known for her bold, graphic travel illustrations, Maine's Nomad collection draws on interviews with digital nomads, local Japanese residents, and evacuees of the devastating 2024 Noto earthquake. Through digitally illustrated, limited‑edition giclée prints (hand‑finished in Kanazawa‑inspired techniques), Maine explores themes of displacement, adaptation, and cultural dialogue.  

Part of the exhibition’s proceeds supports recovery efforts in the Noto region, with donations channelled through the Ishikawa Prefectural Community Chest. This charitable dimension anchors the show’s emotional depth and social relevance.

Molly Maine's Noto 2025

A poignant highlight of Nomad is the gold‑foil collaboration with Japanese tea‑artisan Yu Yamaguchi (whose Wajima studio and home were destroyed in the Noto quake), co‑creates a piece inspired by the Banksia flower—a plant known to bloom after natural disaster. 

Maine digitally sketched the motif, which Yamaguchi then engraved in gold on a traditional tea container, drawing on the Japanese tradition of Kintsugi. This masterpiece symbolises both fragility and renewal, serving as a visual embodiment of community resilience.  

International Women's Day 2025, commissioned by Lenovo Japan

Maine’s signature style is marked by graphic clarity and vivid colour palettes. The contrast between neon vending‑machine streets and serene tatami‑mat settings is foregrounded through bold lines and atmospheric hues.  Having travelled to more than 50 countries, Maine captures local palettes of the cultures she has visited.  From bright Mexican streets and Thailand's street-food markets to subtle Japanese sky hues, each of Molly's work carries a narrative gathered in person, each print is a visual diary of time and place. 

Molly Maine, based in London, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration from Falmouth University in 2008.  During her illustration degree at Falmouth. Maine studied at Nagoya University of Art on an Erasmus exchange.

She briefly worked in-house (notably at Walker Books) before embracing a life as a freelance creative. In 2016 she pivoted into a full‑time nomadic lifestyle, building a global studio powered by Procreate and Photoshop, and has since travelled to over 50 countries.

Maine has also produced high-profile projects under commercial commissions, including cover illustration for The Tokyoiter ( a lockdown homage to Tokyo); illustrated menu design for Harvey Nichols Brasserie at OXO Tower, London; and collaborations with Sky News, Penguin Random House, ASOS, LUSH, Netflix.

With Nomad, Molly Maine presents a narrative tapestry woven from lived experiences. Between geometric colour contrasts and cultural juxtapositions lies a deeper commentary on displacement, recovery, and belonging, seasoned through years of travel.