Haiga Showcase: Robyn Cairns

I enjoy the process of creating haiga through a variety of mediums, in particular linocut art, which I have been exploring as a hobby for the last decade. I immensely enjoy the planning that goes into the designing and arranging of the art, and find carving the design into linoleum extremely meditative. I have often carved the haiku text into the linoleum but more recently have experimented with stamping my haiku onto the print. Sometimes my haiga linocut prints are inspired by another of my hobbies, photography, and other times the haiku inspires the linocut design without an image. The haiku selected are often very special to me on a personal level, they reflect my worries for the environment, my joy of travelling in our little campervan and new wonderous adventures. On my recent first-time trip to Japan, I was mesmerized observing the incredible beauty of the hummingbird hawk moth drinking from a large pink hibiscus in a Zen temple garden. The photograph became my inspiration for the haiga and will now become a very special framed artwork for my house.

Other mediums I enjoy experimenting with for my haiga include cyanotype printing, creating my own stamps, using my 1920s typewriter, and collage. Creating haiga can often take my haiku poems to deeper, more personal places.

—Robyn Cairns

Robin Cairns haiga of hawk-moth

Commentary

By Ron C. Moss, Haiga Editor

lake charm offers a picturesque view from a campervan window that, though little, holds so much. Through cyanotype printing, Robyn creates an enchanting, almost otherworldly background as the birds add movement and color, leading the eye. The haiku is subtle and positioned so it’s easy to read. This composition is, indeed, full of charm.

Robyn’s use of various techniques and mediums add so much to her contemporary haiga practice. In forgetting myself, she captures a moth (with a name just made for haiku) in a linocut that boldly contrasts the moth’s black body against the vibrant iris. The haiku’s hand-stamped lettering complements the handcrafted feel of the print, transporting us to another realm where we can forget ourselves for the moment.

The same elements are at play in golden sun moth. A species native to Australia, the moth has become endangered due to the degradation of the grasslands that are its natural habitat. Here, the white grasses evoke the ghost image in the haiku—they seem to be disappearing. The moth glows above them, although whether in reality or memory is up to the reader.

In journey we’re once again flying, this time toward home. The linocut is, as with the two haiga above, handled with confidence and skill. The white window curtains create a dreamlike effect, and the linocut’s vintage look echoes the coziness and comfort associated with being “home.” The one-line haiku, nicely placed at the foot of the image, almost flies along with the birds.

About the Artist

Robyn Cairns finds immense joy in writing short-form poetry. She’s published two chapbooks, The Drifting and In Transit (both in 2016), as well as two longer collections, This Peace (2020) and Horizon (2023), all with Ginninderra Press. In 2023, she and Marianne Paul co-wrote a monoku chapbook, Damselflies (Paper Heron Press). Her latest book, Soft, was self-published in 2025.

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