Hatsuki Yamashita: Design Festa Tokyo

Hatsuki Yamashita's mixed media work is haunting. Yamashita's landscapes seem photographic in their detail, but the main character and focus feels empty and sinister. There isn't much information online about the artist (and my Japanese is a little rusty). These pieces were seen at Design Festa Art Fair in Tokyo. Design Festa features the work of about 10,000 artists working in a wide range of media. The two-day show is held biannually and was started in 1994. Next show date: November 10 - 11, 2012.

Victo Ngai

Victo Ngai's cultural background is hard to nail down: she speaks Chinese, English, and Japanese. She attended Christian schools, but is not Christian. She holds a British passport, but is not truly British. She is a Hong Kong citizen but holds no Chinese ID card. Her parents live in Hong Kong; her grandparents are Chinese American on the west coast. She goes to the Rhode Island School of Design.

Victo is an illustrator and finds her identity there. She takes strong influence from Japanese woodblock prints and Asian arts in general. She believes that style is overrated. "Style merely means one's habit of drawing based on one's own experiences. Therefore, everyone has a unique style because everyone has a unique life."

Victo works both traditionally and digitally. The lines are done with nib pens or rapidograph pens. The textures are done on different pieces of paper with various mediums, like graphite, acrylic, and oil pastels. Then everything is digitally composed and colored in Adobe Photoshop.

Laurent Guérin: Photography

Laurent Guérin is a photographer whose work I saw while I was in Montreal. He began as a fashion photographer and moved on to capturing the beauty in everyday events in India and Japan.


Cauchemar (2008)


Sans titre (2008)


Sans titre (2006)


Chevrolet (2007)


Shinjuku (2006)


Counter Void (2006)

Akino Kondoh animation

In a previous post, you'll remember me talking about the exhibit at the MFA titled "Contemporary Outlook: Japan." I couldn't remember this artist's name at first, but I wanted to share with you the work of Akino Kondoho, who lives in Tokyo and shows with and is represented by the Mizuma Gallery. Part of her most recent work, "Ladybirds' Requiem," is on display at the MFA. There's something visceral about her work. I wasn't able to find much information aside from her work, so I'll let it speak for itself. I wish I could show you "Ladybirds' Requiem," but alas, it is not on Youtube yet.


"Densya Kamo Shirenai," animation, 2002


"I hear the beat of the night, vol.2," pencil and acrylic on gesso, mounted on board, 2005


"Braids," pencil and acrylic on gesso, mounted on board, 2005