a taiwan fashion boutique, TUAN TUAN, used my drawings (’new heartbeat’ and ‘my precious egg’) for their national ad campaign, announcing the opening of their new shop in taipei. they ran full-page ads in the apple daily newspaper, the biggest newspaper in taipei, as well as in a fashion magazine, ‘madame figaro taiwan’.

at the same time, i was interviewed by madame figaro via email. i was answering their questions at 3 in the morning to meet the deadline. i was in a deeply sleepy mode, so some of the answers may not make sense to you at all. that’s okay, because i don’t make sense even when i am wide awake

here’s the interview (published in chinese translation):

Madame Figaro Taiwan.
Interviewed by May Hua: editor in chief

*You have said that you’re self-taught, but your skill of drawing is so far from a so-called self-taught artist, do you mind sharing your story of becoming an artist with our readers? And I’m curious if you have any master in mind while you were learning drawing.

When I was a kid, my favorite thing to do was to look up at clouds and imagine what they might be. This hobby soon expanded to everything I see: I look at a person and think he looks like a teapot, household objects look like different animals, that kind of thing. During conversations, I tend to drift away thinking like this. I often lose track of what the other person is saying – I completely switch off my ears when I’m lost in thought. I think these habits are the root of my imagination.

i spent a few years teaching myself how to look at things before i started drawing seriously three years ago. i remember my brother came home very excited and told me to colour in a circular motion when we were in elementary school. that’s basically what i do. my technique has changed a lot, but the idea is the same. i still have a lot to learn.

i don’t have any art masters that i follow. i just follow what i have in mind honestly.

*Have you ever learned human body’s anatomy? If not, why and how do your paintings have a lot to do with human body and organs?

I’ve never studied human anatomy, but I’m interested in the body organs because I own them under my skin. The internal organs are underrated. Skin always gets the spotlight – now it’s time for organs to become stars. I’ve always liked the brain, and I’m a big fan of the intestines.

Human beings are less sensitive because they’re covered with skin. Once you open up your skin and show what you’ve got inside, you feel every single movement in life, even a gentle breeze. It hurts, but it makes you feel alive.

*I have to say that normally people feel disturbing to see those strange subject matters you drew in your works, however I also have to admit that I don’t feel uncomfortable with your illustrations, on the contrary, they are quite appealling to me. But, why? Is there any magic in your hands?

Some people find my drawings strange or disturbing. But I’m not trying to shock anyone, or make them uncomfortable, just so I can seem radical or cool or extreme. I hate the “extreme” attitude that so many artists have.

The characters in my drawings are not in pain, even if their internal organs are coming out. They are looking inward – it’s a private moment. Sometimes there is a slightly cruel mood in a face that I draw, but it’s mostly innocent and mysterious and peaceful, not violent or aggressive.

When I draw, I don’t think about any audience except myself. I make the same faces as the characters I draw, while I’m drawing them. I draw my drawings so I can look at them, I don’t aim to create any sort of effect or impact on anyone else.

So maybe people can look at my drawings and find something they can gaze at quietly, without being pushed away. That way, maybe they can find something beautiful even in things they find a little disturbing.

*Some of your works seemed cruel, but they also appeared humorous at the same time, such as the duck with a peer’s head in its mouth. I’m wondering how did you come up with these sort of ideas?

I don’t know where I get any of my ideas from! Ideas and images just come to me. I don’t try to make them up – I don’t even know how I’m going to finish drawings after I start them.

A lot of the ideas I have are funny to me, even if other people don’t think they’re funny. I often end up laughing at what I’m drawing.

My sense of humour is a bit twisted. I think life is cruel and humorous at the same time – so cruel that it’s humorous and so humorous that it’s cruel. It’s all intertwined.

*Some of your works reminesced the images of Khalo Frida, such as “After all”, “Tough skin, Juicy heart”, “My proxy”. But the obvious difference between you and her that I felt was : your works sort of conveyed a sense of humour, self-exploration and happiness, Khalo Frida, anguish but there’s strength in there. How do you think about this?

Mmm… that’s very flattering, but I’m not sure if I deserve such a compliment. For the last ten years, different friends of mine have been giving me Frida-related goods – a calendar, a refrigerator magnet, a case of lip cream. At first, I didn’t bother looking up who she was. I don’t know anything at all about art history – I only knew that she had a uni-brow.

I like the way Frida drew herself again and again, and she didn’t try to make herself look too good. She seems honest, but sad.

Most of my drawings aren’t sad at all. I draw when I’m happy, sad and frustrated – when i start drawing and colouring, i gradually become happy and i forget why i was sad or mad about. My best drawings are when I’m frustrated.

*There’s some sort of “surreal ambience” in your works: your own portrait with chicken feet and head, breasts sewn upon boy’s eyes, exposed brain, organs….even the girl could tunnel through giraffe’s ears to catch the heart. It seemed like you created a dreamland or you dived into subconscious field ,which sort of echoed the surrealists’ ethos. Do you agree with it? How do you feel about surrealists?

I don’t really know much about art history, so I can’t really say what category my drawings will fit in. I’m not interested in categorizing my drawings.

when an image pops into my mind, i simply place it onto a sheet of paper. i don’t plan out the composition or colours to use. i get excited about the image and just start drawing and keep colouring until i am satisfied. sometimes i’m surprised by what i end up drawing, because i’ll start drawing without knowing how i’m going to finish.

i’m just playful and enjoy creating images on paper.

My favorite artist is Rene Magritte. I like the sentimental sadness that he creates in his world.

* Having given birth to a baby should be a very special experience for you, and we did share it through your art. But, could you tell us what this experience really changed or affected you?

while i was pregnant, i was using vivid colours. after giving birth, i have gone back to pastel and soft tones. it wasn’t a conscious choice – funny how things work.

it was an amazing experience to be able to feel a new life growing inside of me during my pregnancy. i felt my body transforming every day. your body changes every day whether you’re pregnant or not, but I never felt a physical transformation this intimate taking place in such a predictable way. everything seems to happen according to the schedule, it’s very organized.

the changes that I’m seeing in my body is as same as other pregnant women around the world. our bodies are programmed to work this way. our “organs” work mechanically, like human machinery. this is the kind of “natural” life that appeals to me.

now i watch my baby changing everyday – learning and absorbing everything he can. human-beings are beautiful.

having experienced a birth of life was so powerful that i can’t stop thinking about the death comes with it. everything ends. happiness doesn’t last forever. when there’s a happiness, i like to be there 100%. when there’s none, i’d like to make one.

ISM is opening a gallery in the heart of the art district of downtown Long Beach.
it will be one of the largest non-profit galleries in Southern California.
they are celebrating the grand opening with an exhibition and reception on Saturday, January 26th.

the opening exhibition is entitled “Hello, my name is __________.” and they invited artists to display OLD or NEW art in this show as they introduce the ISM: Gallery and their favorite artists to the city of Long Beach and Southern California.”

i sent off these three drawings:

gorinjyu

monkey gravity

papa gone fishin’

one of the LA publications, the district is doing a story on the ISM grand opening and picked my image “gorinjyu” to use as the cover for the magazine. when i get the magazine, i’ll post it on my blog.

i hope a lot of people show up for this grand opening to celebrate this wonderful organization.

ISM: gallery // grand opening

This Saturday January 26th we will be opening the ISM: gallery in a fresh
approach to art and social activism. The ISM: gallery is a familial center
exhibiting creative installations, artistic seminars and informative lectures
that will both educate and entertain while presenting an opportunity for
community involvement.

“Hello My Name Is…” the grand opening exhibition will feature artists
Aaron Israel, Adrien Biosse Duplan, 2H, Brian Viveros, Chet Zar, Derek
Hess, Famous When Dead, Grace Chee, Inky Dreadfuls, Haubs, KMNDZ,
Mark Murphy, Munk One, Sheesh, Stephen Anderson, The Dead Beatnik,
Yuka Yamaguchi, Zoso and over a 100 more artists.

ISM: a community project is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated
to benefiting the youth of our society through the artistic enrichment of
our community.

For more information on our organization and how to donate please visit:
www.ismcommunity.org

ISM: gallery at the Koos Art Center
540 East Broadway
Long Beach, California 90802

the owner of a fashion boutique in taiwan, TUAN TUAN, contacted me to request the use of my drawings for a promotional campaign. she wrote me personal emails to express their company philosophy as well as how she felt close to my work. she has a strong passion for art and treats fashion as art. i felt very touched by how thoughtful she was and how much she likes my drawings. so i decided to work with her.

she chose my drawings “new heartbeat” and “my precious egg” for this campaign, announcing the opening of their new boutique in taipei. i think they are great match — i did both drawings when i was pregnant with elijah, and they both have the idea of birth and new life.

the ads featuring my drawings appeared in taiwan’s biggest newspaper, “apple daily“, back in september (7th and 14th). i was told the ads would be full page, but i didn’t realize the effect until i received the actual newspaper, they’re so big… the ads also ran in a fashion magazine called madame figaro in taiwan. i was interviewed by madame figaro for an article, which i’ll post here soon.

TUAN TUAN carries COMME des GARCONS, junya watanabe, camper, 45 rpm, maison martin margiela, undercover, and BALENCIAGA. they will be making a tote bags using my drawings, for sale in the boutique. you can buy a print of “new heartbeat” from my online shop.

(click the image to view close up)

milk magazine (fashion & culture magazine from hong kong), asked me about my favorite websites. videosift is by far the most entertaining website that i like. nowadays, i don’t really have time to browse websites, but i check videosift everyday to find something amusing. paul and i joined as a sifter over a year ago. we post videos that we both like.

at one point, plastiquemonkey became the number one sifter on videosift. i screensaved it because i knew it wouldn’t last long. as a matter of fact, it lasted about 5 minutes. another sifter, name deputydog, passed us right away and shot up to the top. but then he stopped sifting and started his own very popular website.

my 5 favorite websites:

1. VideoSift
   –> this is a community website where people submit videos and the community votes on them. it’s an amazing selection. finding a favorite sifter is like finding a gem box - full of fascinating things. my favorite sifters are “rickegee“, “farhad2000” and “mlx“.
2. Deputy Dog
   –> a very entertaining blog by someone i met through videosift. he has a great talent for finding interesting things.
3. Kanshin Kuukan (”Interest Space”)
   –> a japanese community site where people write about whatever interests them. i click on random tags and read things that are new to me.
4. Design*Sponge
   –> probably my favorite design blog.
5. Go-Kyokun (”Your Daily Lesson”)
   –> a japanese website where people send in puns and funny lines. judges decide which line will get published — one per day. it’s very funny and i can start my day with a good laugh.

milk magazine sent me a copy of #318, which has an article about the “untitled love project” group show at thinkspace gallery in los angeles. i sent them a drawing called “soul pumping”.

(click the image to view close up)

thanks for showing my drawing!

there is a review of my show at the mendel art gallery in this week’s edition of planet S, saskatoon’s city magazine. i’m happy to find that the reviewer understands what i’m doing, with the review titled “the beauty of grotesque”. the reviewer says “[my drawings] are seeming to be part of a larger whole that Yamaguchi is pointing toward”. i think my drawings make sense when they are seen all together, as part of one experience. that’s why i like to hang as many drawings on one wall as possible, maybe not even using frames so they can all be close together. that way, nothing is separating my drawings from each other, and also, i don’t have to buy frames.

i also like the ending part: “This juxtaposition, creating a place where we can neither be only horrified or simply think happy, cutesy thoughts makes Yamaguchi’s work both enjoyable and memorable.” i can’t separate those feelings in my mind. they are not opposites to me, they are all living in my head at the same time. i guess my art work is kind of like “yami-nabe style”. everything is all mixed together, and you never know what you’re going to get.

here is the review:

The Beauty Of Grotesque

YAMAGUCHI’S WORK BLURS LINE BETWEEN HUMOUR, HORROR
by Bart Gazzola

PERSONAL :: POLITICAL
YUKA YAMAGUCHI, DAVE GEARY
MENDEL ART GALLERY
RUNS TO SUNDAY 3

Yuka Yamaguchi is currently exhibiting at the Mendel Art Gallery, through an ongoing gallery project titled “Artists by Artists.” The project pairs an experienced artist (in this case, Yuka is paired with noted Saskatoon artist and frequent Planet S contributor extraordinaire Dave Geary) with a more emerging one, with the resulting work exhibited in the lower space at the Mendel.

Over the past few years, the concept has been interpreted in different ways by the different participants: sometimes the result features solely the work of the junior artist, and other times a collaborative installation takes place. In regards to the current installation, Yamaguchi explains on her website that the pair made the decision to collaborate on Personal : Political because Geary’s work, with its propaganda motifs and socialist imagery is the latter, whereas Yamaguchi’s work seems to be very much biographical—a personal narrative that is being shared with the viewer.

Yamaguchi was also one of a number of artists who exhibited at the now-defunct Royal Red Gallery: her small, delicate drawings immediately pulled the viewer in, even in that massive space—and they’re as well-executed as they are disturbing. Her bio describes her as a self-taught artist, from Kobe, Japan, stating that “her drawings are inward-looking, reaching both extremes of cute and grotesque.” Very simply done, with coloured pencil or ballpoint pen—and always seeming to be part of a larger whole that Yamaguchi is pointing towards—her works are indicators that sometimes art school can be the worst thing for a potential artist. Her unique, bizarre vision could easily have been lost there, or subjected to the usual problem of instructors wanting to create younger versions of themselves.

Works such as “New Heartbeat”, where a young girl holds her very anatomically correct heart to her ear in a gesture of love or listening, or “After All…”, where a boy is partly flayed by what looks like a common kitchen utensil, easily fit within the grotesque. But “Chicken Fight”, or “Self Portrait, Age 17”, are both . . . well, cute. Not a word I use often, but it applies here.

Some works incorporate both of these seemingly disparate concepts, such as “Inseparable”, where a cute, pre-teen couple are tying themselves together by their respective hanging tendons and muscles, which hang in ribbons from their severed calves. Both are smiling, and seem pleased with the arrangement, and I am reminded of the Japanese horror film Audition, which was really a love story, with the classic admonition that “you must love only me.” “All I Can See” is both creepy and very, very funny, and will make some men reconsider before they carry on a conversation with a woman’s breasts instead of her face.

On her website (www.plastiquemonkey.com) she explains that her latest endeavour is the “turn everything around you cute and fun” project, and her sense of humour is clear in her work, although sometimes that humour at play is somewhat black. This juxtaposition, creating a place where we can neither be only horrified or simply think happy, cutesy thoughts makes Yamaguchi’s work both enjoyable and memorable.

also, it looks like i am on Bravo!News this week. i was interviewed by them back in april. i don’t have a cable connection at the moment (we’re moving this week), so i don’t know. i was also interviewed by the local Shaw TV channel. the interview aired in mid-april. again, i didn’t watch tv enough to catch it. if you are watching tv sometime tomorrow in canada, you might see me actually talking.

there is an interview with me in a new issue of milk magazine, from hong kong. apparently, the editor came to my blog and liked it, so i was contacted about showing my drawings in the magazine. it happened very fast — once i said yes it only took a week before the issue was published with my drawings in it. they mailed me several copies from hong kong, and i just got them.

milk magazine is a weekly magazine about fashion, music, design, culture, entertainment, trends etc. the writer who contacted me said their audience is mostly 18 - 35 years old. the graphic design work is stylish and the content is interesting. i can’t read chinese, but i could decipher some of the chinese characters that are also used in japanese.

for this issue, they featured 12 of my drawings including “new heartbeat”, “my secret elephant”, and “all i can see” — in eight pages in colour! they were kind enough to let me choose which drawings i wanted to show.

click images to enlarge (slideshow)

the last page of the article is the interview. the writer interviewed me by email, in english. he asked about my bio and for some stories related to my drawings. i can’t read the chinese version of the interview, but i guess it’s a literal translation with some editing. this is how the interview went:

were you born in japan? where were you born?

i was born in kobe, japan.

did you go to high school in japan or overseas?

i graduated high school and university in japan. i have a degree in social work.

did you study at any art schools in japan or overseas? what is the name of the school?

i’ve never taken any art classes. i’m self-taught. i like to teach myself how to draw by drawing. i’m not interested in art theory or history. i don’t like to think about what i do in that way. so i’m glad i never went to art school.

when did you move to saskatchewan? how long have you benn living in saskatchewan?

i’ve been living in saskatoon, SK since summer 2005. i moved to canada back in 2000, though. i’ve also lived in winnipeg, manitoba and kingston, ontario.

why did you move to saskatchewan?

my husband got a job here, so we moved. i like living on the flat, flat prairie. when i stand in a big prairie field, i really feel like i’m standing on the earth. i especially like to listen to spacious electronic music (like microhouse) while driving under the vast prairie sky, surrounded only by sound and atmosphere. it feels good.

when did you start drawing?

i started drawing when i was three or so. my grandma would give me some paper to draw on, and i just loved it. i used to draw in my notebooks now and then, but i started drawing more seriously in 2004. that was the first year that i showed my work in public. now i show my work on my blog (www.plastiquemonkey.com) and at gallery shows and street fairs. i like seeing how people react to my drawings. it’s amusing.

what kind of art do you like?

i like art that makes me want to touch it and get inside its world. i tend to like photography and film more than painting or drawing. i don’t pay much attention to what’s going on in the art world, or what kind of work other people are doing. i know what i like, but i can’t explain what it is.

what is your inspiration of your drawing?

images appear in my mind whenever i’m sad, mad, happy hurt, or sentimental - which happens a lot. i don’t have any tricks to come up with ideas. i spend most of my time lost in my own mind. ideas just come to me as i’m going through my daily life, even though i can’t see the connection between what i’m doing and those images. as soon as i get an image, i try to draw it right away. i don’t think much about what it means. i just start drawing, paying attention to my technique, the colours, and the facial expressions. what you see in my drawings is what i’ve got in my mind.

when did you start to sell your drawings - prints/ originals?

i started selling my work at street fairs and art festivals when i came to saskatoon. i also opened an online shop in 2006. people from around the world can come to my online shop and buy my prints, original drawings, postcards, and useless toys. it was quite a bit of work to set up, but it’s great - i enjoy sending my work to foreign addresses where i’d like to visit someday, and imagining my drawings hanging on someone’s wall. at the same time, i really enjoy showing and selling my work at street festivals. i find it more stimulating than showing my work in an art gallery, because i can see the reactions right on the spot. i get such a nice response from all sorts of people on the street, not just the types who go to art galleries. i prefer people to come across my work in their daily lives, including online, not just in a gallery where they go specifically to look at “art”. i get more natural responses on the street - if people don’t like it, they’ll tell me. i think that’s great. it just makes me want to draw more and better.

do you have any new plan from now on?

i’m always trying to improve my technique so i can realize the images in my mind more precisely. at the same time, i don’t want to forget that better technique doesn’t mean better work. in the end, i’m doing this for my own enjoyment. i’m going to keep on drawing images that make me laugh.

can you tell me which is your most favorite work? and the reason why?

it’s hard to choose. it depends on my mood. right now my favorite drawing is called “new heartbeat”. i drew it after i found out i was pregnant for the first time. i went to the doctor and listened to the baby’s heartbeat on the monitor. it was still so early in the pregnancy that i couldn’t tell anyone except my husband. but i just had to do that drawing, because it was living inside of me.

the writer showed my favorite drawing, “new heartbeat”, on a full page and sent me a proof of the article as a souvenir. he was very thoughtful from start to finish.

since this article appeared i’ve noticed more and more visitors from hong kong, and people have been contacting me to say hello. thanks for stopping by!