Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Conversation begins at 11:10 (Kafkaesque flop-sweat anecdote about a business presentation in Japan begins at 1:33:20)
Welcome to Mundo Mendo! I visited artist and writer Luis Mendo (luismendo.com/about) in Karuizawa, Japan for a wide-ranging conversation about art, creativity, community and more. We talk about how he left design and embraced drawing and illustration, why he created the Mundo Mendo (https://www.mundomendo.com) platform so fans/members can support his art and stories (and get an annual print edition of his work), the limits of money and the joy of making art, and how artists can escape "working for Mr. Zuckerberg" and stop chasing likes on Instagram. We get into how internal change has to be accompanied by an external change, the challenge of not having a client, his critique of AI "art", and the tension between world of numbers & metrics and the world of serendipity. We also discuss the creative residency he & his wife ran, Almost Perfect (https://www.almostperfect.jp), his love of old movies, how the creative life can be a chain of projects, what brought him to Japan and what keeps him there (even if he feels like a foreigner wherever he is), his newsletter (luismendo.com/theillustrated) that highlights other illustrators and artists, why I should be a male model in Japan, and a lot more. (Plus, after the conversation I share a story about my Japan business trip and some Kafkaesque flop-sweat moments.) Follow Luis on Instagram (instagram.com/luismendo/) and Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/luismendo.com), and support MUNDO MENDO (https://www.mundomendo.com) and subscribe to The Illustrated (luismendo.com/theillustrated) • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-677-luis-mendo • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe (buy.stripe.com/dR603B83MbhS4XS3ce), Patreon (patreon.com/vmspod), or Paypal (paypal.me/vmspod), and subscribe to our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
Conversation begins at 11:10 (Kafkaesque flop-sweat anecdote about a business presentation in Japan begins at 1:33:20)
Welcome to Mundo Mendo! I visited artist and writer Luis Mendo (luismendo.com/about) in Karuizawa, Japan for a wide-ranging conversation about art, creativity, community and more. We talk about how he left design and embraced drawing and illustration, why he created the Mundo Mendo (https://www.mundomendo.com) platform so fans/members can support his art and stories (and get an annual print edition of his work), the limits of money and the joy of making art, and how artists can escape "working for Mr. Zuckerberg" and stop chasing likes on Instagram. We get into how internal change has to be accompanied by an external change, the challenge of not having a client, his critique of AI "art", and the tension between world of numbers & metrics and the world of serendipity. We also discuss the creative residency he & his wife ran, Almost Perfect (https://www.almostperfect.jp), his love of old movies, how the creative life can be a chain of projects, what brought him to Japan and what keeps him there (even if he feels like a foreigner wherever he is), his newsletter (luismendo.com/theillustrated) that highlights other illustrators and artists, why I should be a male model in Japan, and a lot more. (Plus, after the conversation I share a story about my Japan business trip and some Kafkaesque flop-sweat moments.) Follow Luis on Instagram (instagram.com/luismendo/) and Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/luismendo.com), and support MUNDO MENDO (https://www.mundomendo.com) and subscribe to The Illustrated (luismendo.com/theillustrated) • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-677-luis-mendo • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe (buy.stripe.com/dR603B83MbhS4XS3ce), Patreon (patreon.com/vmspod), or Paypal (paypal.me/vmspod), and subscribe to our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
