Since 2016, Maine has been slow-traveling her way around the globe, creating illustration commissions on the go and finding inspiration (and community) in unexpected places. Mexico City, Lisbon, Madeira, Chiang Mai, Hoi An, and Georgetown are some of the places Maine has considered “home” for extended periods. Laptop-free adventures have seen her circuit Sri Lanka by motorcycle and attend yoga retreats in Rishikesh – but you’ll never catch this wayfaring illustrator without her sketchbook and clutch of black ink pens.
Now closing in on the 10th anniversary of managing her remote design studio from coworking spaces, the artist behind Molly Maine Creative returns to the city many might deem her “real home” to oversee her milestone. Which, as fate would have it, came about when revisiting the country where she had her first taste of living overseas.
Courtesy Molly Maine
“As an artist, a solo exhibition is something I’ve wanted my whole life,” shares Maine, who studied at Japan’s Nagoya University of Art for one year as part of her bachelor’s degree. Nomad: Perspectives on Home in a Changing Japan brings together the voices of local communities and remote workers in the island nation. “I always knew if I was going to have an exhibition, I’d want it to be about something meaningful – a body of work that I felt proud of and that had a story to tell.”
Nomad came about as a result of Maine’s attendance at the annual Colive Fukuoka conference, where she was invited as a keynote speaker. Following this, she took up an artist residency in Kanazawa – Japan’s art and design nucleus with a legacy for gold leaf craftsmanship. As part of this initiative, Maine spent time in Noto meeting people who fled their houses during the devastating earthquake that struck the peninsula on January 1, 2024.
“It was then that the seed of an idea started to grow into a project,” explains Maine.
Casual interactions with people on the ground about the meaning of home developed into the artist conducting interviews with Noto evacuees. In tandem, she spoke with Japanese residents who had moved away from their birthplace and foreigners who had snapped up the country’s digital nomad visa. These discussions informed the artwork Maine created for Nomad, with pieces weaving together common themes.
“Both groups had no fixed base: one out of choice, the other not,” says Maine, referencing the earthquake evacuees and the digital nomads.
This kindled exchanges about what defines home and the sense of belonging.
“Rather than expressing grief, the people I interviewed from Noto spoke of gratitude towards those who helped them, welcomed them, and offered gestures of kindness,” she continues.
This is something any traveler or digital nomad can relate to.
Courtesy Molly Maine
Chewing over which destinations she’s felt most at home in and would recommend to fellow and aspiring digital nomads, Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Hoi An, Vietnam, are Maine’s standouts.
“If you’re a new digital nomad, Chiang Mai is a ready-made community where remote workers are welcomed without any animosity,” she says, reflecting on her experiences in the mountain city as a bootstrapping freelancer and, later, a seasoned nomad crafting graphics for Sky News, Lush Cosmetics, and Penguin Random House.
Maine had a similar experience in Vietnam’s seaside resort of Hoi An with its picturesque Old Town and coworking spaces nestled amid the rice fields. “Vietnam retains its culture,” muses Maine, favoring locations where there is less of a divide between local residents and foreigners.
Mindful of spending responsibly and contributing positively to her host community, Maine rents locally and supports businesses with ethical credentials. She recommends volunteering initiatives like beach cleanups as a means of giving back – it’s also a great way to mingle with a mix of local residents and foreigners. An advocate for coworking spaces (and a regular face at whatever her closest independent coffee shop happens to be), it wasn’t until the pandemic that the designer developed a routine for working from home. Perhaps it’s Maine’s habit of integrating herself that paved the way for her to be invited to speak at one of Asia’s largest digital nomad events and set the wheels in motion for Nomad.
Courtesy Molly Maine
Much like the experience of visiting Japan, Maine’s artistic style fuses tradition with innovation. Once devoted to drawing everything by hand, her traveling arsenal included a medley of pens, paints, sketchbooks, and art tools (she even mulled over a portable scanner). It wasn’t exactly nomad-friendly for this minimalist, so Maine sought a solution.
“I still travel with one sketchbook and I am addicted to black ink pens,” confesses Maine, who now predominantly works with Procreate on her iPad. Nine out of 10 times, the explorer travels exclusively with a carry-on bag. A preference for hot-climate countries streamlines packing and Maine cites practical items such as US dollars, copies of her spectacle prescription, and a well-used bug catcher as her necessities. A 25-strong collection of black ink pens is her luxury item.
This no-frills mindset also sees the artist discard her sketchbook without a second glance once full. “For me, sketching is about the process, not the result,” she clarifies.
Having photographed any roughs with potential, the nomadic artist moves on: looking ahead to her next destination, her next commission, fresh stories.
“I love how sketching makes me feel: relaxed, present, and connected to whatever it is I’m drawing,” she summarises, relating her practice to the Morning Pages technique outlined by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way.
Maine commits to this journaling habit on weekday mornings and applies the same sentiment to drawing, seeing it as a meditation and a means of letting things go.
Courtesy Molly Maine
Not only is Maine the curator and artist behind Nomad but she’s also the event manager, the accountant, and the publicist. She sourced sponsorship through researching brands she thought might be interested and reaching out with an outline of her intentions. “As a solopreneur, I’ve managed this entire project myself,” the nomadic businesswoman says. “But, although Nomad is a solo exhibition of my work, it’s the collaborations with others that made it happen.”
Besides a generous artist grant from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Maine gained support from two London-based Japanese brands for the private viewing: sushi restaurant Ikkan and brewery company Kirin Ichiban. Following on from her appearance at Colive Fukuoka, the month-long retreat is backing the London exhibition and will bring it to Japan in fall 2025.
“As a digital nomad, you often sit staring at your screen and working alone – if you’re not careful, it can be a lonely existence,” warns Maine. “Going out and forging friendships and partnerships is what makes the experience fun and nourishing.” This also extends to digital connections.
As a result of the conference and residency, Maine connected with Yu Yamagishi, an artist who lost her home and studio to the Noto earthquake. Using video calls, messenger services, and translation apps, the artists were able to collaborate on a piece for Nomad – marrying Maine’s bold illustrations and Yamagishi’s signature gold leaf technique. “It was a digital collaboration that now exists in real life,” she explains, who will host a digital exhibition on Molly Maine Illustration for those who cannot travel to London from Japan.
Courtesy Molly Maine
As for where Maine considers home, she’s still searching.
“Home is a feeling and not a fixed place,” she answers quickly, mirroring the responses collated for Nomad. “Not one person said that home was one specific brick-and-mortar place. It was something hard to articulate, but interestingly, they were all trying to describe a feeling,” she concludes.
Is finding “home” Maine’s motivation for exploring? No. “I travel to see the world,” affirms the artist, acknowledging her privilege and voicing her passion for connecting with people from different backgrounds. “Seeing life from the perspective of others is what’s valuable to me; realising that everyone does things differently, yet we share so much in common.”
Nomad: Perspectives on Home in a Changing Japan will be exhibited at 67 York Street Gallery in London, United Kingdom, between July 4-13, 2025. Admission is free; limited edition artwork is available for purchase. Colive Fukuoka will exhibit Nomad at lyf Tenjin in Fukuoka, Japan, between October 1-31 before it travels to Tokyo in November. A portion of the profits will be donated to Ishikawa Prefectural Community Chest (Red Feather, CCCJ) in support of recovery efforts in Noto. 