Yoshimoto Nara emerged as one of the most influential Japanese illustrators participate in the Neo-Pop art movement during the nineties; best known for his simultaneously cute and mischievous characters and finding motifs in manga style illustration and punk rock culture. While the underlying motifs of his work are often cynical, his work is often categorized as cute; which I feel is a very common way pop art is categorized, especially when it involves manga-like characters. I started getting seriously into drawing while I was in elementary school, I loved comics and anime which lead me to buy manga drawing books. I studied the technique and looked to a Manga style illustrations for guidance.
Growing up in the digital age has also influenced my work, as the cartoons of the 60s influenced Nara’s aesthetic preferences, I see similarities between my work and the cartoons and toys I loved as a child. I find Nara’s work to be so inspirational due to his ability to bring high art into the realm of everyday objects, I think this is part of the reason I chose to become an illustrator. As an illustrator, I hope to have the ability to reach a diverse audience, including people, especially kids, who don’t imagine art and design as a career. Looking at Nara’s work makes me excited to create my own. I feel my recent work with Planned Parenthood NYC is similar to Nara’s work; I used ice-cream themed characters to create a fun and approachable way for young people to connect with Planned Parenthood and learn about the importance of reproductive health. Even though the ice-cream cone characters are cute and fun, they’re used as a representation of spectrums of gender and sexuality.
