Residency Reflections: Hiromi Murai
Can you describe your first impression of Le Moulin de Marnay and the surrounding environment?
I was awed by how spring at Le Moulin de Marnay carried a quiet beauty, filled with gentle light and so many different shades of green. Being close to nature felt deeply comforting and peaceful; my mind became quieter. I settled into the boot room very naturally; the place felt as if it had been waiting for me. It had a beautiful marble worktable, along with many bottles, glasses, and dried plants — a perfect setup for creating my casting work and preserving or drying gathered materials. The last resident who worked there was the pigment maker Polly Bennet. Since both of our practices revolve around collecting organic materials and processes of transformation, it felt like inheriting a kind of alchemical laboratory. Some of her inks and tools were still there, and they became very useful to me. The fields and garden were overflowing with flowers, young leaves, and shoots emerging into new life. In the garden, there were also various herbs for tea or smudging, which allowed me to explore different ways of bringing plants into daily life. It felt like an environment where my practice could fully breathe and grow.
How did the residency impact your creative process or shift your perspective as an artist?
My practice is deeply rooted in nature and its elemental forces — seeking to reconnect with its vital energy and regain a sense of wholeness. Being immersed in nature, I felt carried by the regenerative flow of spring, which guided me toward greater clarity and new directions in both my research and studio practice. It is a time when life returns: a season of regeneration, renewal, and growth. Many of the plants I collected from the surroundings share these qualities and a sense of liminality that echoes the transition of energy from spring to summer. Working with a rich diversity of plant forms rarely encountered in the city, the works developed during the residency naturally became denser and fuller of life, carrying the essence of spring. For me, gathering plants is a highly intuitive process. Working with plants can be very personal, as their names do not necessarily reflect their full qualities. Over time, through repeated encounters with the same plant, a clearer sense of its subtle presence develops, and a connection begins to form. I really enjoyed encountering local plants and working with them for the first time. Unexpectedly, many of them seemed connected to the fairy realm, which echoes the liminal spaces and the different aspects explored in my earlier works. Rainbow light — a symbol that also appeared in one of my earlier works — has increasingly drawn my attention. Like other colours of light, it seems to carry its own distinct energetic quality, and there also seem to be unique ways of working with it. Across different mystical traditions, rainbow light has often been associated with encounters with non-ordinary realms. I am excited to share more of what the green world has revealed to me through this residency in future presentations.
Was there a particular moment during the residency that stands out as transformative or unexpected?
During the residency, I found myself reflecting on the continuity of consciousness and ‘reality’ as we experience it through the mind — every moment carries transformative potential. To stay conscious in daily life is a continual practice of awareness: not getting lost in feelings, emotions, or thoughts, but returning again and again to the centre or the present moment. In all kinds of real-life situations, my experience reflects who I am. In this way, I am continuously experiencing myself through others and through everything that is not me. In moments of unease and discomfort, I began to see them as signs of inner tension, where old patterns repeat themselves unconsciously. At the same time, these moments became opportunities to clearly see fear and let go of it.
What did the time away from your regular environment teach you about your needs as an artist?
The residency introduced me to a very different rhythm of living and working. There was a sense of spaciousness and openness, both physically and mentally. The days unfolded slowly and organically between the studio, the garden, and the fields. I moved between different places, indoors and outdoors, gathering plants, making, reading, meditating, and simply being present. Coming from London, I had overlooked how much stimulation my body and nervous system had been absorbing on a daily basis. The mind becomes overactive from constantly processing and analysing information. The residency reminded me how essential it is to create space and openness in both life and painting, much like the concept of negative space in Chinese landscape painting, where emptiness carries a contemplative presence beyond the visible form. Since returning to London, I have been trying to find balance by embracing moments of “unproductiveness,” recognising them as moments of nothingness that are essential and natural. I have also been taking mental health walks in nature, as a way to step out of an overactive mind, feel more grounded, and breathe in the green energy that brings me back to my heart as the centre.
The residency is a shared experience. What was it like interacting with the other artists?
The two weeks of living together with my fellow artists were very stimulating and special to me. It felt intimate, as we lived in quite a communal way alongside the residency dog, Chaussette, and the many cats in the house. We were not only sharing studio space, but also cooking together in the kitchen and gathering around the dinner table at the end of the day. We exchanged thoughts about our practices as well as different aspects of life. We all worked with very different rhythms, materials, and approaches, yet interestingly, we discovered shared themes and points of resonance in a way that felt synchronous. By the end of the residency, I found myself working on canvas and approaching the making process in a slightly different way. The other artists influenced me not only through their artistic practices, but also through their positivity, sincerity, and the good energy they brought into the space.
Is there anything you left behind — literally or metaphorically — when the residency ended?
I brought some of the paintings back to my London studio to continue working on them, so in a way the residency is still carrying on for me. The painting base is made with plants collected in the Loire. This series of paintings will be filled with different shades of green captured there, as they help me meditate on the quality of green light. I miss Chaussette and the cats very much and hope to see them again soon.
Anything else you would like to share?
I am deeply grateful for all the support from Melanie and the General Assembly team for creating such a special opportunity and a nurturing environment for artists.