Yoshitomo Nara is a Japanese artist who is well known for the girl character who is bulbous-headed with large eyes and cynical grins. As a contemporary of Takashi Murakami within Japan's Neo-pop movement, Nara is influenced by elements of popular culture from both East and West. Nara creates drawing, painting, and sculpture that express intense emotions while his practices explores themes of isolation rebellion and music. In this essay, I would like to explore both internal and external factors that influence Nara's work.
To begin with, childhood experiences and past memories could have a massive impact which may last for a life time. Nara said that his artwork just comes through him naturally and reflects his past experiences. Thus, to better understand his work, we need to know what he has been through. Yoshitomo Nara was born on December 5, 1959, by the time of post-World War II era, in Hirosaki at Northern part of Japan. "When you are a kid, you are too young to know you are lonely, sad, and upset," he told ART news ' Kay Itoi. "Now I know I was." (Yoshitomo Nara Biography. n.d.) However, we …show more content…
He earned his BFA and MFA from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. During 1988 and 1993, Nara studied at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf which also known as the German State Academy of Arts. He stayed in Köln, Germany after graduation. During the time in Koln, his first girl character was created. According to Nara's own words, "When I make the drawings, I don't think of it" where the brush itself represents his subconscious, reflecting his accumulated past. He uses English, Japanese and German expletives written next to the character to further explain. In his installation work “My drawing room” which is a copy of his workplace. There is a note on the desk written in Germany saying “For always I want to be a punk, for always I want to punk, because there still is something I must
To begin with, childhood experiences and past memories could have a massive impact which may last for a life time. Nara said that his artwork just comes through him naturally and reflects his past experiences. Thus, to better understand his work, we need to know what he has been through. Yoshitomo Nara was born on December 5, 1959, by the time of post-World War II era, in Hirosaki at Northern part of Japan. "When you are a kid, you are too young to know you are lonely, sad, and upset," he told ART news ' Kay Itoi. "Now I know I was." (Yoshitomo Nara Biography. n.d.) However, we …show more content…
He earned his BFA and MFA from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. During 1988 and 1993, Nara studied at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf which also known as the German State Academy of Arts. He stayed in Köln, Germany after graduation. During the time in Koln, his first girl character was created. According to Nara's own words, "When I make the drawings, I don't think of it" where the brush itself represents his subconscious, reflecting his accumulated past. He uses English, Japanese and German expletives written next to the character to further explain. In his installation work “My drawing room” which is a copy of his workplace. There is a note on the desk written in Germany saying “For always I want to be a punk, for always I want to punk, because there still is something I must