giovedì 28 ottobre 2010

stumble on AUDREY KAWASAKI

The artist of the day is Audrey Kawasaki.


Few years ago I stumbled accidentally on her personal website and I immediately felt in love with her art!

What attracted me was the simultaneous presence of innocence and eroticism in her "creatures". It is amazing how these two characterstics go arm in arm in her art. I think this is why one get seduced at first glance when facing her paintings.


One sees two completely different approaches in one piece and get attracted by these creatures shrouded in mystery.
It is also possible to choose the side you like and it gives one freedom.
Delighted, satisfied and free.

What makes her art even more intriguing are also the asian elements that she chooses. This brings the paintings to a higher level and Audrey's creatures become mysterious beings, reachable only in dreams.
Often they possess a talisman, which seems to be the answer one looks for or the problem that overwhelms the situation.


In the Juxtapoz number 90, Audrey explains "All my paintings portray this one female, I'm somewhat possessed or haunted by her." This reoccurring archetypal feminine "other" has developed within Audrey's psyche for the past decade. "Ever since my high school years I was always drawn to a type of mood or imaginery. The girl reappears in all my pieces, fading in and out," she explains. "She's there, and then she's gone."


This elusive, hauntingly unattainable female often reflects how Audrey seems to feel about herself.
Haunted by her girls and their elusive dispositions, Audrey appears to have resigned herself to a life-long struggle to know them. She isn't afraid to directly confront her girls, look them in their sultry eyes, and ask that questions we've all asked ourselves: "Who the hell are you?"


A virtual battleground between the innocent and the erotic, Audrey's paintings embody that tender space where youth meets its nemesis. "She's a character or being that's very mysterious. I have to bring her back again and again; I have to keep painting her to find her."

For more information about Audrey, check her website!

...and which is my favorite?
I have many, but if I have to choose I would pick this one:

venerdì 19 febbraio 2010

stumble on YOSKAY YAMAMOTO

The very first time I stumbled on Yoskay Yamamoto was in New York. It was the summer 2009, my first time in the U.S, in New York. I spent one week in N.Y with my boyfriend and definitely it is one of my favorite city, it's absolutly awesome (my dream is to be back there soon)!
One day we were walking around the East Village and we saw the small sign "Toy Tokyo" (121 2nd Ave), and as it was closed, the next day at the opening time we were there impatient to get in.
Who knew this seemingly shady 2nd floor shop held so many awesome things!
One of those awesone things was a vinyl toy who attracted my attention: the KOIBITO.


Then, when I came back in Switzerland (my hometown) i googled it and I discovered who was behind this amazing vinyl toy. It's Yoskay Yamamoto.




What was attracting in the Koibito, was the magic it spread only at looking at it.
A simple interesting character with a magic element, a a mixture of reality and fantasy. A combination of modern and ancient culture, which is very attractive to me, it makes somehing very unique and I enjoy that! When reality and magic come together and you cannot see the separation line between them, well I have to admit, this attracts me a lot. It makes me feel more closer to my fantasies, the magic inside me seems to come out. This makes me feel happy and gives me inspiration.
The Koibito strengthen the mythical style, and this helps me to emphasize with it, and makes me feel more mythical than human. A dream.

At this point I would like to tell you something more about Yoskay Yamamoto.
Born and raised in Toba, Japan, Yoskay Yamamoto moved to the United States at the age of 15. A self-trained illustrator, Yamamoto's artistic tastes expanded as he fell in love with the urban culture of the West coast. Yamamoto discovered a way to fuse the two different cultural backgrounds together into his work. Yamamoto nostalgically blends pop iconic characters from his new Western home with traditional and mythical Japanese elements, balancing his Asian heritage with urban pop art. Nowaday Yoskay Yamamoto is a rising Japanese artist in the LA art scene.

Well, now you can understand better why this guy is so amazing and why I like his art! I have to admit that I am a fan of mythical Japanese elements, and those mixed with western elements, totally different, bring to life something new, something really magic.

Here you have a painting of the Koibito, as it is based on an original painting.




In the painting he literally embodies the fish out of the water sentiment. I read that Yoskay has lived in so many places, and as much as he does get along wherever he lives, it sometimes give him a certain "fish out of the water" feeling.
So, I venture a guess that in a way the Koibito could represent him and his feelings.
But he says: “I used to have a pet fish named Tuna and he passed away because of my poor treatment and laziness. So after he died I painted some fish, and the Koibito character came about. People somehow really related to it, or they just found it so amusing or interesting that it became one of the characters that people really know about in my work.”
Anyway I still think that the Koibito is a mixture of the two explanations.
Antoher thing has to be said concerning the Koibito. Even though Yoskay likes the Koibito character, he doesn't want to emphasize it more, as he doesn't want to be stuck as the artists who only does Koibito.
A concern that many artists face in their life, a conern which I've named "the octopus syndrome". However it was thanks to the koibito that I stumbled on this energic artist :-)!

Looking at the rest of his art, it seems there are hurricanes of emotions involved. If you look at his homepage you'll see the rest of his work, with the complex backgrounds, many different patterns, textures, the waves (try to blick once and the waves will look completely different)... All these details are amazing.
It seems that an hurricane of emotions comes out thanks to the motion present in his artwork.
Here you have some Yoskay works I like, but to get a complete idea of all his art you definetly have to visit his website, and you'll discover a lot more about the paintings, sculptures, vinyl, and so on.


















Hi everybody

I would like to begin the blog by introducing myself.
I'm a girl studying economics with a passion for art, and what I like doing most is to discover new artists who enchant me with their work.
I love surfing the net and then stumble on someone's work, which makes me dream and let the magic hidden in me comes out.
I've never done art's courses at school, but I've always been interested in, hence I've started getting informed by myself. For this reason do not expect complete and professional comments, but only personal thoughts.
The aim of this blog is to show you artists and their work who have delighted me.