All images courtesy of the artist.
Born in Osaka, Yuki Nishimura studied Graphic Design at Tama Art University in Japan, then flew over to our fair shores to continue her education at MA level at Camberwell College of Art. Her illustrations are varied, but unique. They have the madcap sentimentality that captures a childlike sense of imagination. Illustrators, or at least the great ones, have an ability to transport the viewer into the wonderland inside their minds, which is exactly what Yuki’s illustrations do. According to her website, her inspirations are drawn from ‘nonsense jokes, poetry, animation, comics, toys, air balloons, climbing, watching rocks, deserts and tropical plants.’ The last three might explain why everything she creates has a Peyote like delirium inheirent to it. Which, in this case, is a great thing.
‘Circus’ walks the line of that dreamy young imagination and something that’s a bit wrong, and reminds me of something that might be found in a Tim Burton sketchbook.
‘Inky Impala’ an illustrated poem, continues with that stylistic quality, and quite simply makes me happy looking at it. It’s a snapshot of Nishimura’s evocative creativity, a wonderful little world filled with strange mythical beasts, wildlife, and other things that you don’t actually know what they are, but they’re pretty awesome and you’re quite happy to sit in front of them and grin like an imbecile.
Although her style doesn’t vary from the demented fairytale, her subjects do. From a portrait of mathematician, Johannes Kepler to a feature for Little White Lies on ‘Where The Wild Things Are’, Yuki dips her brush into many pots of inspiration and always brings out a sterling piece of work that keeps her aesthetic unique and her outlook refreshing.
Yuki’s website can be found here.
Categories ,circus freaks, ,deserts, ,kepler, ,maths, ,plants, ,yuki nishimura
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