heart

tonight is the opening of the group show, “girls at play” at compound gallery. i’ll be flying to portland all day today — no direct flight from saskatoon, so we have to change planes in calgary and vancouver. i hope elijah will be happy and sleepy all day.

the curator from the gallery contacted me back in july and invited me to be part of this show. he said the theme would be “twisted eroticism”. i’ve never tried to draw anything erotic, so i wasn’t sure why he asked me. but then i remembered that some of my drawings show up on sexy websites from time to time, especially the ones with naked breasts. it’s a little strange to me that people find my drawings to be erotic, since i don’t think of them that way.

i’m not very good at drawing around a theme, or doing anything on purpose. i tend to get heavy mind-constipation worrying about whether my work will fit with what i’ve been asked to do, or if anyone will understand it. as a good japanese citizen, harmony is very important. so i end up thinking a lot about the other people and the situation, instead of just drawing what i feel like drawing.

i didn’t get much done for this show until the end of september. it was elijah’s super-fussy season around age 2-3 months. then, when i had time to think about drawing, i couldn’t decide what to do for this show.

after all that mind-blowing mind-constipation, i decided i wouldn’t care what i was supposed to do for the show. i just started drawing whatever came to my mind: first there was a girl playing nintendo wii with her breasts, then there were some roosters doing strange things (i didn’t realize what the other word is for “rooster”), then finally there were some giant hearts attached to a stump body of a schoolgirl. maybe some people will still find it sexy but it doesn’t seem that way to me. i was just trying to make myself laugh.

i’m happy the show was given the title “girls at play”. i didn’t know the title until just recently, after doing most of the drawings. it’s good that i drew the girl playing with the wii. but even the other drawings are just me playing around with my pencils, so it still fits with the theme.

harmony!

i hope people have fun looking at my drawings. if you’re in portland tonight, come to compound gallery. i’m not very chatty and don’t make much sense, but i’d be very happy if you are there.

here is the set of drawings i’m showing. you can click the images to enlarge, and go through them like a slideshow.

my original drawings can be purchased from compound gallery’s online shop (and at the gallery, in portland). i will be making prints of a few of these drawings and adding them to my online shop.

girls at play

four female artists who represent a new movement in japanese art
(show details)

november 1 - 30
reception november 1st @7pm

compound gallery
107 nw 5th avenue
portland, oregon

the kanji say “ai no toriko”, which means “slave for love”.

another drawing i did for the “girls at play” show at compound gallery, in portland.   the show opens thursday, november 1st, at 7pm.  i’ll be attending the opening.  if you can come, please do.

“kubittake” means “head over heels” in japanese.  it has the word “kubi” (neck) in it.

another drawing for the show at compound gallery in portland.  i’ll be at the opening on thursday evening (starting at 7pm).

(click image to enlarge)

someone wrote me an email recently saying my work knocked his socks off, and that people at his work were wondering where his socks went.

i never heard the idiom “knocked my socks off” before, so i took it literally. i wrote back to him and told him to hold on to his feet. i was thinking about that conversation when i drew this.

this drawing is called “meichuu” (命中), which is japanese for “bullseye”. the kanji literally mean “life center”.

i’m showing this as part of a show called “girls at play”, at compound gallery, in portland. this will be my first show in the US. if you live in the portland area, please come to the show. i’ll be at the opening reception, november 1st.

girls at play

four female artists who represent a new movement in japanese art
(show details)

november 1 - 30
reception november 1st @7pm

compound gallery
107 nw 5th avenue
portland, oregon

Update

welcome to people from Digg — i’m your “midweek weirdness“.

if you like my drawings, there are more on my gallery page.

(click image to enlarge)

i’ve been staying up late drawing for my show at compound gallery in portland (opening november 1st). i’ve done 13 drawings so far. i only started drawing for this show at the end of september, so i’ve had to work pretty hard, for a change. i think i’m going to submit 9 or 10 of them to be included in the show.

this is my favorite of my new drawings. it’s called “my first time”.

(click the image to view close up)

one of the drawings i did for the “girls at play” show at compound gallery in portland.