When I stare into the eyes of "Little Nara Yoshitomo Girl", it is strange that the reason why I think she is a little cute is that she is not lovable. This is a very wonderful visual communication. I see something strange in her green eyes. She seems to look into the depths of everyone's soul, which is often our personal habitat that most people don't understand. Nara Yoshitomo, like the little girl he created, has an unpleasant side. He is not good at communicating with people, but likes to express everything through art, which is deep but gorgeous.
The documentary "Nara Miki and His Travel Records" with Douban score of 8.5 tells the story behind Nara Yoshitomo's world tour with his created images. In the process of curating from A to Z, he cooperated with others to build 26 huts for the first time, just to present the most perfect effect. There is a lonely universe hidden in his heart, but after reading his story, he realized that it was us who were lonely.
Only the seven-year-old girl can understand him
Today, Nara Yoshitomo has gained fans all over the world with his children, which he never thought of. At the first stop of the documentary, he came to Korea to attend the meeting. Young fans are very concerned about Nara Yoshitomo's lifelong events, and small notes always ask him when he will get married. Faced with such a problem, Nara Yoshitomo always smiles shyly. When he came to the university to give a speech and some students praised him for being handsome, he bowed his head and smiled shyly, covering his face with his hand. These lovely points let us see the "sense of youth" that is inconsistent with the impression of middle-aged uncle, which may be a kind of purity that has been infiltrated in the self-universe for a long time.
A seven-year-old girl named Saihe left a deep impression on Nara Yoshitomo. She wrote on a note: "Uncle Nara Yoshitomo, your painting is great. What is your inspiration?" There is also a line on the back that says "I really want to call your name when I am sad". Saihe stood in the crowd at the meeting, with a sense of distance. It was not that Saihe was too timid compared with enthusiastic girls in their twenties, but that she seemed to be the girl who walked out of Nara Yoshitomo's painting and didn't want to leave her world. Even in the face of her favorite uncle Nara Yoshitomo, she is so calm and alienated. Don't you think Saihe looks like a little girl in Nara Yoshitomo?
Saihe has the composure and silence that doesn't match his age. She didn't say a word to Nara Yoshitomo when she handed the album to him face to face for signature. Nara Yoshitomo is probably someone who can read Saihe's heart. Nara Yoshitomo said in the taxi back that only the seven-year-old girl really came to see his paintings. Like Nara Yoshitomo, Saihe is a "lonely star".
Her mother said that Saihe lived with her grandmother in the country since childhood, and now she is back with them. She is withdrawn and reticent. She won't say much to her mother. However, she was shocked that she could say that to Mr. Nara Yoshitomo, because she didn't know her daughter's heart. After the meeting, Saihe told her mother for the first time that she wanted to be an artist. She wanted to go back to the countryside and make friends with the stream. Her bare heart may be the strength given to her by Nara Yoshitomo and his little girls.
Although it is difficult for us to understand how Nara Yoshitomo and his works exist like a cure for Saihe, it seems to be only a right feeling, which is a kind of metaphysics that can only be understood by individuals. But when Nara Yoshitomo saw Saihe in the middle of the year, did he see himself who was once unknown? Standing at the crossroads of success, he looked back and saw that the loneliness with dreams and longings was a blessing. Maybe in the future, Saihe will meet another child who will shout her name when she is sad. Only the seven-year-old girl can understand his love for art, and he is the only one who can understand Saihe.
Unconsciousness is the truest
After graduating from university, Nara Yoshitomo went to Germany to study. When an interviewer asked what influence the tutor of Dusseldorf Art Institute had on him, he firmly said that the tutor had no influence on him, and he only met the professor four times in eight years. This answer is undoubtedly a blow to many people who want to use art colleges to shape talents' gimmicks. Nara Yoshitomo almost got everything from his own understanding. For him, his days in Germany are an opportunity to change his way of getting along with himself. Nara Yoshitomo doesn't have to talk to many people or know many people. It's like going back to his infancy. He doesn't have to rush to the world to express himself and doesn't care about the influence of the outside world.
During that time, he formed a perfect lonely personality. Because he has a lot of time alone, he has more inspiration from frank communication with himself. Early Nara Yoshitomo girls always looked cynical and had sharp eyes. Does that also represent a side of Nara Yoshitomo? He chose not to communicate with others and wrapped himself in a shell, but he also yearned for excitement from time to time. Someone will always ask him where the inspiration for his creation comes from, but Nara Yoshitomo always answers that he doesn't know. He said that these paintings were created unconsciously, which is often the truest portrayal.
Nara Yoshitomo's pursuit of letting nature take its course is not only unconscious in art, but also free and easy in life. He doesn't force himself to be gregarious. Compared with the happiness brought by loneliness, loneliness is only a small part. He just chose this artistic expression, and painting in his own universe is his exit to communicate with the outside world.
The camera records the birth of a painting by Nara Yoshitomo. He always walks away from time to time with a cigarette in his mouth, adjusting the strokes on the paper all the time. Sometimes, he gets lost, sits in a chair, looks at the semi-finished product and says that he still feels a little worse. When I saw this passage, I finally understood the charm of Nara Yoshitomo. Nara Yoshitomo's loneliness is not melancholy or decadence, but a fascinating concentration. Just as solitude makes him feel primitive when he was a baby, loneliness is his sense of security and his clumsiness in guarding innocence.
before, I may not understand why this middle-aged man is so obsessed with children and dogs, but when I really saw his work record, I found that he just turned a part of his heart into paper for more people to see. Nara Yoshitomo admits that he can't express himself, and he is too good at using paintings to express himself unconsciously. We all misunderstood him. Nara Yoshitomo is not alone. The children, dogs and sheep in his inner universe are full of vitality. Do not forget your initiative mind's childlike innocence is precious in Nara Yoshitomo's works.
There will be no plans from A to Z in the future
In 25, Nara Yoshitomo and Graf cooperated in the exhibition "A to Z" in Yoshii Liquor-making Tile Warehouse. He wants to show all of himself to everyone, just like from A to Z. Together, they built 26 huts, each with different design and content. Nara Yoshitomo said that these huts are connected with the small town, and there may be more than 26. Come to think of it carefully, Nara Yoshitomo is seeking the space between his inner universe and our life.
The hut is made of glass and wood. You can see the white dog through the small hole in the house. The desk created by Nara Yoshitomo is restored in the room, and the children's sketches are pasted on the wall. Perhaps for Nara Yoshitomo, who was painting at that time, these line drawings were the product of solitude, but once they were seen by more people, they had different meanings, and his personal whimsy would make everyone feel beautiful. In the process of participating in the design and construction of the hut, Nara Yoshitomo put forward many ideas of his own, not from the painter's point of view, but from the viewer's point of view, whether some effects are amazing. This is also his first step out of the state of alienation from the crowd.
In the process of building the hut, Nara Yoshitomo and Graf became workers, working with their partners to accomplish the goal. Nara Yoshitomo said with a smile at the planning meeting that there was no A-Z plan before, and there will be no plan after that. At the end of the exhibition, the huts will be burned down with a torch and then retired. I want to do something worthy of retirement. When the plan A to Z really ended perfectly, Nara Yoshitomo was the one who was most reluctant to part with it. The little girl in his heart is also changing with A to Z.
This cooperation with others made Nara Yoshitomo discover his own changes. It was also a good choice to walk into the distant crowd properly. For art, he doesn't know whether softening is a good thing or a bad thing, but for his life, isn't it a good attempt? Later, Nara Yoshitomo's children's eyes also lost some sharpness. Although they are still so maverick, they are not alone. A to Z, 26 huts, are the epitome of Nara Yoshitomo's small universe. He opened his heart in a sincere but restrained way and tried to talk to the world.
Maybe, I still can't fully understand Nara Yoshitomo. The children he wrote are just the tip of the iceberg of his personality. When people lament that he is a typical lonely artist, they don't know that a person is a universe, which is awkward but cute. Aren't we lonelier than Nara Yoshitomo? His external alienation is wrapped in his fiery heart, and his life is as brilliant as summer flowers.