YUMIKO KAYUKAWA
ILLUSTRATOR
JAPAN
http://www.sweetyumiko.com/ How did you get into art?Since I was a child, as far back as 2 years old, drawing and painting were my favorite things to do. Also, my father taught mehow to draw animals when I was a little girl.
How did you get from art student to artist with her
own gallery shows?

I graduated from art school a long time ago. After school I continued to
draw mangas and paint for fun and for some illustration jobs. In 1997 I
visited my friend in Seattle and she asked me to make a manga style
painting on a big canvas. I really had fun making it; it was my first
time applying my manga style onto an art canvas. Before my second visit,
she suggested trying to have a gallery show in Seattle. I made some
paintings and she helped me get into Roq La Rue Gallery. That was my first U.S. show.How is life for an artist different in the United States from Japan? Is it more difficult to find galleries in the United States as a Japanese artist?By “Japan” you’re probably imagining Tokyo, but my city is Sapporo,which is much smaller (about the size of Seattle). Compared to Sapporo, the US art scene is totally different. The galleries in Sapporo have no style. They are just rented facilities and it’s very expensive to have a show. There also aren’t many collectors, so there is almost no art scene. All the US galleries have their own style and they seem aggressive in finding new art. But, I must say Tokyo is much different from Sapporo. I saw some cool galleries there and many big shows.

In many of your pieces, you portray women as animals or interacting as equals with animals. Is this how you think about women? Or how you think about animals?

Drawing girls and animals have both been my favorite things to draw since I was a child. I especially love animals. There is a relationship between with the girls and the animals - something like a friendship. All of us live in the midst of nature even though we may live in big cities - even while dancing in a club; wherever we go we can’t escape the natural world. I especially like wild animals though. They are all so beautiful and have such genius design and amazing lives. I just get so happy to think about them - what they do, where they go, what they mightthink about… (I don’t want to touch them or bother them in any way though.) I really just want to put that imaginative feeling of playing with wild animals
into my paintings.

Are the women in your paintings some people (or one person) you know, or are they just a nonspecific woman?

They are all just general people. It’s just like when I was drawing cute, imaginary girls when I was a child.

Do you think people think about your art differently in the United States than in Japan? How is it different?

One big difference is that people call my work Japanese “anime style”, but most girls in anime have big eyes, big breasts, and colorful hair. That’s one big difference. The girls I draw are not found in most Japanese comic books or cartoons. Also, I often include jokes or word play that perhaps only a Japanese person would catch. I think there are probably many other differences in the way my work is perceived and understood, but it’s really hard to know.

Describe a “successful” day. Is it one where you spend the whole day painting? Or at an art show opening?

Spending the whole day painting is a typical day. It’s my nature. So a successful day would be one like at my art show opening. It’s heaven to see people enjoying my paintings. It’s such a treat for me ;)

You say that American pop culture is a big influence on your work. Who are some of your favorite American artists? American musicians? American movies? Why do you like them?

I like American pop art, but what I have been most influenced by are music
and movies; especially rock music. I’ve learned a lot from album covers and lyrics - going back to the 80’s hard rock scene. I loved a little bit of almost everything, but I really liked Hanoi Rocks. (Actually - they’re from Finland!) For movies I liked “Godfather”, “Fandango”, and “Rocky” (but only the first one). I also love Paul Thomas Anderson and Michael Mann films.

What advice would you give to people who want to become artists like you?That’s a really difficult question, because my career took off so suddenly and out-of-the-blue. I really didn’t have any expectations whatsoever that I would make a living as a painter. I can only say that I was very lucky to find my own style and that it’s something I can feel really passionate about. It came to me just like a fever – or a tsunami. It was an accident and I’m really happy for it ;)

Posted: December 31st, 2007 under Yumiko Kayukawa.
Comments: 1