Yoshitomo Nara

Yoshitomo Nara is one of my favorite artists. He is best known for his unusually cute childlike forms. Nara once said, "I want people to feel the commotion beneath the surface of my pictures." His artwork really comes alive, especially in his illustrations which display his spontaneous use of his materials, such as pen, colored pencil, crayon, and watercolor.

I am really attracted to Nara's unrestrained technique and simplicity of his forms and colors. Im especially attracted to his unique delicate sense of color, texture, and lines, which give his artwork a non-threatening, non-aggressive first impression, but as take a closer look, you see a darker, more serious side to the images.



Yoshitomo Nara's art is often described as being in the style of "Hetauma," which is a graphic design trend translated as "Clumsy Skill." It refers to his "imperfect" forms and spontaneous use of lines, words and colors. Relating to graphic design, much of Nara's work includes text to convey a message. Nara's cute images, which often posess unexpected objects such as knives, matches, and cigarettes, include "scrawled exclamations" like "I'm Waiting Forever?" and "Fuck the Rotton World!" or more exclusive phrases such as "On the World in the Red Zone" and "Flying Nun." In some of his other drawings, empty cartoon bubbles suggest emotions that defy words. In these drawings, the narrowing of an eye, a tilted chin, or a curve of the lips can speak volumes instead. Yoshitomo Nara's artwork may seem cute and superficial at first, but you will soon discover the depth of emotions and important communication beneath the surface.