Nara Yoshitomo / After the Acid Rain
When I first looked at
this picture I wondered why this girl does not have legs, but after seeing the
title, I noticed that she was in the acid rain. Acid rain is harmful to the
environment, animal and it damages buildings. Mainly, it is caused by human
activities. In this picture, the girl is soaking in the acid rain. From her
face expression and her pose, she looks like she is being skeptical and afraid.
The background of the drawing is all
purple and blue mixed color and it is so gloomy. In contrast, the girl is drawn
in light colors, especially her skin and her blue eyes. She is wearing simple
clothes colored in orange. Her big eyes give the ‘kawaii’ feeling to the
audience. However, her tightened mouth and the way she gazes far away give the
impression that she is feeling uncomfortable and anxious. Nara did not draw eyebrows
and this makes the girl more mysterious.
Nara mainly draws a
girl in his picture. He explains that this girl is his portrait. When he was a
child, he prefers playing by himself, talking with an animal, and had an
imaginary skill. However, looking from an adult point of view, he was
misunderstood that he was a lonely boy and had no friends. This picture is
expressing how he was seen by the adults.
Chiho Aoshima/ Shrine Mountain 2008
When I first saw this picture, I thought
it is interesting because the title was written right on the top of the
mountain. “神社山” means “Shrine
Mountain”. As some of you notice that “山” (mountain) is emphasized compared to “神社”
In the background, black and navy is
mainly used, but in the bottom, there are red which seems to be the light from
the sun. The upper part of the picture is the space and the middle mountain is
higher than the moon. Mountain is symbol of the God, and the middle mountain is
a shrine mountain, so it is very close to the God. It is interesting because
the three mountains have a face. The little two mountains look like children
and interested in the middle mountain. The highest mountain almost has no
feeling in it and just looking straight towards the audience. It also has many
graves and many spirits that we cannot see. On his top of the head, there is
traditional bell. It looks like a hair accessory.
In this picture, she is drawing shrine,
God, and sprit. However it also gives us a ‘kawaii’ feeling to it. I think this
is because of the mountain’s face. Small mountains look so innocent and the
middle mountain’s eyes are round. It also has sacredness in it.
