--What sparked your interest in Japanese art and culture?

I think it was photography and architecture that first sparked my interest. I discovered and was drawn to its minimalist, clean, avant-garde, and anti-romantic elements. This is the aesthetic that permeates "MOTHER." Born in the UK, Japan seemed to me to have a unique and mysterious culture that I had never seen before, and it piqued my curiosity. Five years ago, I visited Japan for the first time and traveled around the country, visiting places like Gunkanjima in Nagasaki, Mount Aso, and Hida Takayama. Unlike the UK, the country's varied landscape, with its volcanoes and earthquakes, fascinated me.

Originally, "MOTHER" was planned as a cross-cultural platform between London and Tokyo. Even now, 50% of the content is related to Japan. European creators are all interested in the unique cultures of Asia, including Japan, and many of my friends have emigrated there.

--Artists from all over the world, including Japan, are participating. How do you actually create your works? First, I decide on a theme, select the artists I want to work with, and come up with a plan. Next, I create visual sources similar to the mood boards fashion brands create when creating a collection, and share them with the artists. I ask them to interpret the visuals and make suggestions. We then create the magazine through mutual exchange of visuals. MOTHER is a visual-first magazine. Although we cover a variety of fields, such as photography, architecture, fashion, and dance, visual images are an important form of expression in all of them. We live in an age where global communication is possible purely through visuals. The internet has encouraged us to think visually. For people in the visual industry, words are no longer as important as they once were, and new forms of communication are being developed at an incredible speed. Wherever I go, I can communicate what I want to say through images. I'm happy to be working in such an era. --Do you have any specific examples of visual communication unique to this era? In fact, the U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot I interviewed for this article is an avid MOTHER fan, and he contacted me first. She truly experienced the ambiguity of speed and the theme of this issue, EROS/THANATOS. In a visual-driven era, we can see images, understand the artist's intentions, and connect with them on a deeper level. Before starting her magazine, she initially published through a blog. Many followers connect with her because they share her unique worldview. She hopes to further develop her blog, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
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Kate's exceptional visual sensibility means that the artists and topics she chooses are beautiful, radical, and solitary. Her intense aesthetic sense resonates with people all over the world, and they connect through social media platforms like the internet. The phenomenon of visual networks forming speaks to the dominance of images, unique to the internet age. Her focus on Japanese creations as something unknown speaks to Japan's uniqueness and potential amidst globalization.

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