Yoshitomo Nara - Lost and Found

Written by Winnie Xiao

I’ve always been drawn to the Japanese pop art genre because of the colorful expression of the artists’ wild imaginations. So when I found out that Yoshitomo Nara’s paintings are on exhibit at LACMA, I knew I had to go see them. It turned out to be a trip to the Lost and Found of Forgotten Childhood Dreams.

Yoshitomo Nara is a Japanese artist whose signature style features wide-eyed children often acting rebelliously or looking intently into the distance. The theme that appears constantly throughout these paintings is the simplicity of the drawings. They’re so simple and yet they capture so much. As I walked from room to room, the drawings on display went from well-thought-out paintings to random doodles on scratch paper. I felt like I was on a guided tour back to a time when I was little, and I used to draw just for the fun of it. That was something I lost over the years, but Nara did not.

I originally planned on writing about Yoshitomo Nara’s history and what inspired his artwork but then all of that is available on the Internet. So instead, I’m going to take this chance to tell you a little bit about myself. I’m sure Nara won’t mind.

I don’t remember exactly when I started drawing, but it must’ve been the moment I picked up a pencil. I took off to draw everything on everywhere. I’d go through pages and pages of sketchbooks, scratch papers, and walls. Yes, our walls were covered with my scribbles up to where my little hands could reach. It was a mess, but my mom was proud. My desire to draw was fueled by the need to materialize my imagination. In my head, princesses and magic were real, and I loved to pretend that I was slaying monsters with Sailor Moon.

As I got older, I started taking all kinds of art lessons. My very first art class was a disaster. That day I showed up at the class where other kids have already started drawing and the lesson of was to draw fish. I sat down and thought, that’s SO EASY, and within a minute, I filled a white paper with at least a dozen fish. Then the teacher walked over and said, “you drew so many… you were only supposed to draw one”. Immediately I thought I did something wrong. Tears streamed down my face as my mom led me out of the classroom while all the kids stared. I think it was the first time I realized that there are rules and expectations to doing something I love. I still drew and took more classes after that but time was chipping away at my passion. Occasionally, the teachers would enter me into competitions and I didn’t know why. I didn’t ask for it and I didn’t like comparing with other kids. I remember for one of the competitions, the teacher told me exactly what to draw and even though it turned out nice, it just wasn’t mine. I didn’t understand back then that even though my mom never asked me to win any awards, our culture expected us to excel at these extracurricular activities so the teachers taught us to compete. Every experience I had told me that there was always someone else better than me. It shouldn't have mattered but it did. Then somehow I stopped in my high school years. I lost the ease of drawing whatever I wanted, and my imagination lost its outlet. If I drew, I would judge my work as either good or bad. Often they were bad and would get tossed in the trash.

Those drawings that I tossed look just like the ones at Yoshitomo Nara’s exhibit, except his are cherished and cared for. What I threw away were records of precious moments and feelings that made me who I am.

A girl walked by me in front of one of the paintings and whispered to her friend “so simple, I can draw it too”. She said my thoughts out loud. I wish I kept all my drawings no matter how silly they looked at the time. I wish I could’ve shut out all the noise and kept drawing for no other reason than that it made me happy.

Seeing Yoshitomo Nara’s drawings made me realize it’s ok to not be perfect. It’s like getting a permission slip to let my imagination fly again. I’m going to pick up my brushes again and learn to enjoy doing something that used to make me feel happy and fulfilled and this time I won’t judge.

If you also visit the Yoshitomo Nara exhibit at LACMA, I hope you’ll like it as much as I did. Maybe you too will find the inspiration to do more of what you love and be more of who you are.

Winnie received her bachelor's degree from USC Marshall School of Business. She currently works as an appraiser at the Assessor’s Office handling business property valuation. She enjoys working closely with the public and helping people navigate through the complex system of property assessments. In addition, Winnie is assisting with LACAAEA's outreach efforts to recruit more AAPI youths to participate in the Youth@Work program.

Winnie’s favorite pastime is sitting down with a coffee and reading a good book. She also enjoys traveling, drawing, singing, and playing the piano.