About
Photo by Mengwen Cao“Through creating my artwork, I am able to time-travel back to my younger self and heal with them together. Some of the things that my younger self was not able to receive, like certain kinds of love or attention, I can give to them now as an adult.”
—NPR, Embodied Podcast
—NPR, Embodied Podcast
Haruka Aoki (she/they) is a queer Japanese American artist, poet-illustrator, and hope bender growing roots in Portugal.
Their paintings and narrative artwork, featured in publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, aim to inspire individuals with both wit and sincerity as their hand-drawn characters engage the world around them. Growing up often unsure of where “home” would be next, Haruka has befriended the abundant imagination found in nature and community, a constant starting point in their work.
By foraging inspiration from ancestral and metaphysical realms to nurture their artistic practice, they hope to grow and provide an accessible space for collective healing. Haruka often feels deeply grateful to be an earthling.
To keep in touch, subscribe to their newsletter here.
Their paintings and narrative artwork, featured in publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, aim to inspire individuals with both wit and sincerity as their hand-drawn characters engage the world around them. Growing up often unsure of where “home” would be next, Haruka has befriended the abundant imagination found in nature and community, a constant starting point in their work.
By foraging inspiration from ancestral and metaphysical realms to nurture their artistic practice, they hope to grow and provide an accessible space for collective healing. Haruka often feels deeply grateful to be an earthling.
To keep in touch, subscribe to their newsletter here.
Awards and Residencies
Rooted in Collective Hope: Shaping a Future We Belong To, SALTO Training Course, 2026
Albanian Ornithological Society, Ecology & Art Field Residency, 2025
The Washington Post, Our Favorite Illustrations of 2024
Casa Fuzetta, Artist-initiated Residency, 2024
Society of News Design, Award of Excellence (Visual essays for The New York Times), 2024
Milkwood, Workshop Retreat for Author-Illustrators, 2023
Fine Arts Work Center Scholars Award, 2023
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators BIPOC Scholarship, 2023
Education
Pratt Institute, 2014
Brown University, 2012
Publication and Press
Groton School Quarterly, Sitting with the ‘Shoulds’, 2026
Voilà with Pauline Bellocq, Lisbon Transition Stories, Episode #4, 2026
Green Dreamer Podcast, Adrian Sutherland: Honoring the land through the work of our hands, 2026
Green Dreamer Podcast, Kirsten Bradley: Cultivating active hope through small daily actions, 2026
Green Dreamer Podcast, Sophia Kai: Finding belonging within a fractured world, 2026
The New York Times, A Surfer Finds the Waves Keep Calling, Even in Winter, 2026
The Creative Mindset Podcast, A Corporate Art Director’s Journey to Artistic Freedom, 2025
Portland Public Library, NonSense: Collaboration on Spontaneous Composition, 2025
Green Dreamer Podcast, Sasha Davis: What do we do when protests and elections fail?, 2025
世界のクリエイティブ思考ポッドキャスト、2025
「アーティストとしての働き方」
「自分の居場所を見つけるには？」
The New York Times, 150 Years of Scribbles at the Art Students League, 2025
The New Yorker, Nothing to See, 2025
The Washington Post, I have agoraphobia. Here’s what I do when I’m afraid to go outdoors., 2025
The Rights of Every Child, Protection from Mental Violence, 2025
Casa Fuzetta, The House of Stories, The power of a creative community, 2025
The New York Times, An Earthling Reflects on a Wartime Salesman’s Bold Act of Resistance, 2025
The New York Times, An Earthling Tunes In to a Hidden Universal Message, 2024
Casa Fuzetta, The House of Stories, Embracing Artistic Living: Haruka Aoki’s Journey to Portugal, 2024
The New York Times, An Earthling With an Extraterrestrial Pen Pal Imagines a Cooler World, 2024
The New York Times, What if an Earthling and Someone From Outer Space Became Pen Pals?, 2024
Cartoonists for Palestine, Hind Khoudary Speaks About Hamza Dahdouh, 2024
The Washington Post, Does your relationship help you grow? A quiz on expansive relationships, 2024
The Seventh Wave Anthology, As Told by Haruka and Heliodoro, Map of Selves, 2024
Carolyn Yoo’s SEE YOU, Meet My Art Friend: Haruka Aoki, 2023
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Blog, Why You Should Befriend Your Fellow Artists, 2023
Yellow Glitter Podcast, The Value of Identity and Self-Expression with Haruka Aoki, 2023
The New York Times, The Magic of Block Party Season, 2023
The New York Times, Cat Therapy, 2023
The Washington Post, From an ocean away, I’m cherishing every moment I have left with my parents, 2023
The Circle Voice, Groton School, Universal Language: How Haruka Aoki ‘08 Fosters Connections Through Art, 2023
The New York Times, The Acrobatics of Viewing Art, 2023
The New York Times, A Night at the Opera, 2023
The New York Times, A (Bitter) Winter Love Letter, 2023
Green Dreamer Podcast, Thom Van Dooren: The evolving cultures of the more-than-human world, 2022
The New York Times, What Role Do Libraries Play in Your Life?, 2022
Green Dreamer Podcast, Hi'ilei Hobart: Ambient sovereignty and the question of temperature control, 2022
Yellow Glitter Podcast, Finding belonging at the intersection of art & activism with Haruka Aoki, 2022
The New York Times, An Ode to the Public Library, 2022
NPR’s Embodied Podcast, Plucked: The Calm and Chaos of A Hair-Pulling Disorder, 2022
The Los Angeles Times, This Plant-Loving New Yorker Visited L.A. for the First Time, 2022
The Washington Post, Growing up, I hid my hair pulling. It was a sign I needed help, 2022
Cake Zine, Volume 2: Wicked Cake, Happy Work Anniversary, 2022
The Ridgewood Times, Neighborly love: Ridgewood residents throw second annual block party, 2022
The Washington Post, This AAPI Heritage Month, I’m done living in fear, 2022
The Ridgewood Times, Ridgewood artist helps create new educational program for city’s Department of Sanitation, 2022
The Ridgewood Times, ‘All about the community’: Ridgewood residents show ‘support and love’ at local block party, 2021
Rooted in Collective Hope: Shaping a Future We Belong To, SALTO Training Course, 2026
Albanian Ornithological Society, Ecology & Art Field Residency, 2025
The Washington Post, Our Favorite Illustrations of 2024
Casa Fuzetta, Artist-initiated Residency, 2024
Society of News Design, Award of Excellence (Visual essays for The New York Times), 2024
Milkwood, Workshop Retreat for Author-Illustrators, 2023
Fine Arts Work Center Scholars Award, 2023
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators BIPOC Scholarship, 2023
Education
Pratt Institute, 2014
Brown University, 2012
Publication and Press
Groton School Quarterly, Sitting with the ‘Shoulds’, 2026
Voilà with Pauline Bellocq, Lisbon Transition Stories, Episode #4, 2026
Green Dreamer Podcast, Adrian Sutherland: Honoring the land through the work of our hands, 2026
Green Dreamer Podcast, Kirsten Bradley: Cultivating active hope through small daily actions, 2026
Green Dreamer Podcast, Sophia Kai: Finding belonging within a fractured world, 2026
The New York Times, A Surfer Finds the Waves Keep Calling, Even in Winter, 2026
The Creative Mindset Podcast, A Corporate Art Director’s Journey to Artistic Freedom, 2025
Portland Public Library, NonSense: Collaboration on Spontaneous Composition, 2025
Green Dreamer Podcast, Sasha Davis: What do we do when protests and elections fail?, 2025
世界のクリエイティブ思考ポッドキャスト、2025
「アーティストとしての働き方」
「自分の居場所を見つけるには？」
The New York Times, 150 Years of Scribbles at the Art Students League, 2025
The New Yorker, Nothing to See, 2025
The Washington Post, I have agoraphobia. Here’s what I do when I’m afraid to go outdoors., 2025
The Rights of Every Child, Protection from Mental Violence, 2025
Casa Fuzetta, The House of Stories, The power of a creative community, 2025
The New York Times, An Earthling Reflects on a Wartime Salesman’s Bold Act of Resistance, 2025
The New York Times, An Earthling Tunes In to a Hidden Universal Message, 2024
Casa Fuzetta, The House of Stories, Embracing Artistic Living: Haruka Aoki’s Journey to Portugal, 2024
The New York Times, An Earthling With an Extraterrestrial Pen Pal Imagines a Cooler World, 2024
The New York Times, What if an Earthling and Someone From Outer Space Became Pen Pals?, 2024
Cartoonists for Palestine, Hind Khoudary Speaks About Hamza Dahdouh, 2024
The Washington Post, Does your relationship help you grow? A quiz on expansive relationships, 2024
The Seventh Wave Anthology, As Told by Haruka and Heliodoro, Map of Selves, 2024
Carolyn Yoo’s SEE YOU, Meet My Art Friend: Haruka Aoki, 2023
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Blog, Why You Should Befriend Your Fellow Artists, 2023
Yellow Glitter Podcast, The Value of Identity and Self-Expression with Haruka Aoki, 2023
The New York Times, The Magic of Block Party Season, 2023
The New York Times, Cat Therapy, 2023
The Washington Post, From an ocean away, I’m cherishing every moment I have left with my parents, 2023
The Circle Voice, Groton School, Universal Language: How Haruka Aoki ‘08 Fosters Connections Through Art, 2023
The New York Times, The Acrobatics of Viewing Art, 2023
The New York Times, A Night at the Opera, 2023
The New York Times, A (Bitter) Winter Love Letter, 2023
Green Dreamer Podcast, Thom Van Dooren: The evolving cultures of the more-than-human world, 2022
The New York Times, What Role Do Libraries Play in Your Life?, 2022
Green Dreamer Podcast, Hi'ilei Hobart: Ambient sovereignty and the question of temperature control, 2022
Yellow Glitter Podcast, Finding belonging at the intersection of art & activism with Haruka Aoki, 2022
The New York Times, An Ode to the Public Library, 2022
NPR’s Embodied Podcast, Plucked: The Calm and Chaos of A Hair-Pulling Disorder, 2022
The Los Angeles Times, This Plant-Loving New Yorker Visited L.A. for the First Time, 2022
The Washington Post, Growing up, I hid my hair pulling. It was a sign I needed help, 2022
Cake Zine, Volume 2: Wicked Cake, Happy Work Anniversary, 2022
The Ridgewood Times, Neighborly love: Ridgewood residents throw second annual block party, 2022
The Washington Post, This AAPI Heritage Month, I’m done living in fear, 2022
The Ridgewood Times, Ridgewood artist helps create new educational program for city’s Department of Sanitation, 2022
The Ridgewood Times, ‘All about the community’: Ridgewood residents show ‘support and love’ at local block party, 2021