minizakis is my response to the Miyazaki films (and occasionally other fandoms). There are infinite ways to be inspired by Hayao Miyazaki, but for me his work feels singular because he allows himself a meandering creative process and to find worlds in everyday things: An abandoned theme park, a painting, the sky.
I was hiking with my sister when some fallen acorn caps caught my eye. I would have just missed them if my eyes hadn't wandered from the path. As I was admiring them, an image unfurled in my brain of a small totoro sleeping inside of an acorn cap. I wanted to bring that image to life and it became the first minizaki.