The Girl with Black Hair

During my stay in Germany, I explored the similarities and differences between Japanese and Western art. In the course of this inquiry, I discovered a connection between the depiction of figures in the tempera paintings of Sandro Botticelli, a Renaissance painter, and the character illustrations of Ikuko Itoh, who worked on character design for the anime series Sailor Moon, among others.

Both artists create a distinctive sense of volume and realism by incorporating asymmetrical facial expressions into stylized, two-dimensional lines and forms. Their depictions of the human figure also evoke Cubism, suggesting a way of representing figures that cannot be fully grasped from a single viewpoint. Discovering such similarities between artistic expressions from vastly different historical periods and cultural backgrounds was particularly fascinating to me, having studied drawing within a Japanese art education system grounded in Western artistic traditions.

In this work, I explore the similarities and differences between Western art and Japanese animation by depicting figures with anime-inspired proportions while drawing on the visual languages of Renaissance and Rococo painting. I have also deliberately incorporated poses often regarded as “feminine” in manga and anime. By examining the gender norms embedded in the representation of figures in both Christian painting and anime, I seek to question how figures are depicted and perceived.

gesso and oil on plywood

2 weeks