Meet the Qrafties II: Uschi Mirus, a Hong Kong Artist Creates Art Using Traditional Letterboxes

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Originally from Germany, Uschi has lived in Hong Kong for over 15 years. With a professional background in corporate business, she has always been creative in her free time. Besides sewing her own clothes when she was young, she focused on old items over the years. For example, she refurbished the office chair that her grandfather used while building his business almost 100 years ago and a kitchen scale that her grandmother used over 65 years ago. Uschi believes that old items tell stories, personal stories, and stories about a culture. The look and the use of an item in a particular culture can change over the years. How it looked originally and how it was used originally always tells a story about cultures.

Using her interest in cultures, their differences and similarities, how they emerge, and how they develop, Uschi became an intercultural consultant. While being out in the New Territories, she found her love for these iconic, traditional letter boxes, which, despite looking all very similar when new, appear very different over time. With a rusty patina and some showing more or less dents, some with fading names on them, and some even with drawings, they are a real unique cultural item of Hong Kong.

During the pandemic, she could not travel and work for her business, so she used her free time for creative ideas. At one point, she transformed some letterboxes into decorative items for her home. The working process was fun; many people loved them, so the idea was born.

Is this your first art project, or have you created art using different elements? How did you start your art journey?

I have always been creative but never did well in painting artwork. I aim to use different materials and bring them together artily. For example, I created an abstract painting with seashells and glass. One time, I found an exciting ornament that I placed in the middle of a canvas and painted abstract shapes around it to create a suitable focus on this centerpiece. My art is more or less bringing materials together that might have a connection already but are commonly not seen together.

Although modern mailboxes are replacing the traditional handmade sheet metal ones in many of the buildings in Hong Kong, you can still find the traditional ones in some older buildings, which serve as a reminder of Old Hong Kong. What makes you start creating art using traditional mailboxes?

These traditional letter boxes are telling stories. Unique and personal stories are items belonging to a person or family who labeled it and stories about old times in Hong Kong. From today’s perspective, they are quite unpractical in their use. The slit for letters is tiny; there is no chance to put a bigger envelope inside. The edges are very sharp, and you must be careful not to cut yourself when you take out your mail. But in old times, it wasn’t just THE letter box; it was a profession to produce them, made by hand. The usual holes in the front form two coins, which shall bring luck to the owner of this letterbox or even good news. The typical size of letters was much smaller than nowadays, and the tradition of the dimensions was so stable that they have never been adjusted to the now standard letter sizes. Not being used in modern buildings anymore, these letterboxes still seem to be the favorite at older village houses or even many multi-flat blocks in Kowloon. Despite not being adjusted to more practical dimensions, they stay the typical Hong Kong letter box, like in no other country I have traveled to. This makes it unique.

We love the unique designs of your mailboxes! Tell us more about your design and the art techniques you used to create each.

For the basis, I use different paints and painting styles. One is acrylic lacquer, which is sprayed and gives a smooth, elegant look. Another is chalk paint, which can be applied differently and looks differently. A particular wax as coating can produce a relatively straightforward style and a shabby chic or vintage look. To create an even extremer vintage look, I use lacquer and chalk paint together, which are somewhat contradictory, but the result is quite interesting. I go into the decoration process when the basis is done and dry.

What is your art creation process like?

In case the decoration is not predecided before I make the basis, I look at the box and decide, after finishing the basis, what kind of decoration suits this letter box best.

I use different items or styles for the decoration. These could be ornaments, Chinese characters, letters, or items connected to Hong Kong. These can be either a three-dimensional object piece, applied vinyl, or sponged paint. To me, the decoration must connect to Hong Kong, as the letter box does. I have used chopsticks, different ornaments with meanings, sea glass from a particular beach in Hong Kong, and actual stamps. Or I use cut-out vinyl to create something typical for Hong Kong, like the name in Chinese characters or the Bauhinia.

Where do you usually get inspiration, and how do you keep your creative juices flowing?

Some ideas are just popping into my head, and then I do a lot of sourcing to find a particular item in the material, size, and shape I need to fit on a letter box. Or I adjust items, cutting or grinding them into the size I need. I walked through Hong Kong, always looking for valuable items or new ideas. Developing and trying out new ideas is part of my creativity, which makes my work never dull.

Is there a particular piece of your art creation that you like the most?

I love old stuff, and the extreme vintage style with something sponged on it, like the 852 area code or Hong Kong in Chinese characters. This is similar to the original, used, old, shabby letter boxes and clearly connects to Hong Kong.

Do you enjoy creating commissioned art or custom-made items? Is it different from making art solely from your ideas?

I enjoy creating commissioned, custom-made letter boxes. Customers are asked to provide a name and address. Some want to combine the design of different models I made before. And others bring their creative ideas, which I like. Either they have a clear idea or give me a direction, and I suggest something. It can be challenging, but that makes the creative process very interesting. And I would love to know what occasion they ordered it. I had personalized orders as gifts for teachers where the students placed little notes inside. Another was used as a farewell gift from a friend group who placed recipes from their home countries inside. I also had orders used for weddings, with the couple’s names applied on the box and placed as decoration at the wedding where guests could put notes with good wishes.

I also get orders that ask to combine different places a person has a connection to, like Hong Kong, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, the USA, or Japan. Every country has something iconic to use as an applied decoration. The maple leaf is for Canada, cherry blossoms are for Japan, etc. It can be challenging to find the best icon, to decide on colors, and where on the letter box it looks best placed, but again, that makes my working process enjoyable. When customers are happy with the result (all are so far), it’s the most fulfilling feeling for me.

Watch Hong Kong’s last mailbox makers fight to keep the craft.

What will you be creating next? Will you launch a new design series using traditional mailboxes or create art using other mediums? Please give us a teaser!

My love is with letter boxes. I just transformed some into crucial boxes. That’s my newest idea, which involved a lot of trial and error to find out what works best. I’ll continue to find more design options; it’s always worth looking into my offers.

Thank you for being an appreciative reader, as always. Meet the Qrafties II is a series of Qraftie sellers’ stories, sharing with you the passion and hard work behind the creative works you see in their Qraftie stores. If you enjoy reading this blog post, please share it with your family and friends. Stay tuned for our next Meet the Qrafties story.

February 2024

Check out Uschi’s art here 👇

Qraftie Store: The Letterbox Company