Clear Archives: Superflat Superstar

Issue 31 Archives

Do you consider yourself a pop artist?

Yes and no. I would like to say that I’m a super flat artist, because ‘pop’ is the title [for] American and British art.

Your use of color is always interesting to me, especially in how vibrant it is. I’ve always wanted to ask you: what is your favorite color? Does it change? Do you gravitate toward certain colors?

My favorite colors are green and pink. In particular, I like really shocking pink.

Has that changed over time?

No. I’ve been experimenting for a long time, but these colors are my favorite. One day I noticed that whenever my eyes followed a lady I saw in public, the lady would always be wearing green—it would always be a green dress or a green shirt or green something—and suddenly I realized, ‘Wow, I’m responding to the green.’

That is the first. And second, pink: when I’m making a painting, anytime I finally add [a last color] in—it’s the pink color. So these two colors are my favorite.

Your art and message seem to meander back and forth between adulthood and childhood. Do you approach it that way or does it seem to be the message that’s perceived?

Basically yes, because I love to see animation; I’m very transformed by Star Wars or Steven Spielberg stuff. [These movies] are always interesting, in childhood and adulthood.

What did you think of the new Star Wars animation piece? Did you catch that movie?

I haven’t seen it. I feel like it will shatter my dreams. It’s strange but the live action Star Wars movies are always very fantasy-like, but the animations have a weird realism that makes me not want to watch them. Episodes I [to] III [are] very high quality. I love that.

What is your most motivating factor in starting a piece of art? What is the initial process or inspiration?

I don’t know…Daily life. One day I’m feeling very sad, so I try to make a small drawing like the face of a sad dog or something. If this drawing fits with [my emotions], it gets bigger and bigger and then I make a sketch of it. But the next day this may not fit [my emotions], so I stop work on it and make the laughing, smiling, flower image.

Daily moods, daily inspiration?

Yes.

Do you feel your art is a political statement in any way? From a cultural standpoint, do you ever get influenced by what’s going on in the world—the war, the economy?

I couldn’t say [specifically] what political statements [there are in my art]. But basically I’m a very angry man. When I’m watching TV, my general reaction is [whispers], ‘What the ****.’ But I have no [specific] subject or political statement [in my work].

Superflat is very exciting to me. But I look at it in a different way, almost like the jowls that Disney used to have—you know, the flapping jowls that made the animation. It seems to be the balance between simple and complex. There’s always something going back and forth—almost like the confusion is the beauty. Is that your intention with your art? Or are you just doing what you feel and it’s just perceived this way?

So, I didn’t see Pixar’s new movie, WALL-E, but I did see the trailer. That really piqued my feeling. That image is very simple and beautiful, but the process is very complex. And the message is very simple and also very complex.

That sort of movie is [an example of] a very successful movie for children. Pixar’s successful animations always have that sort of message. It’s really very complicated but they make it seem simple. So if I can send out some [similar] message from the art world [that is] visually really simple and happy-face, [then] the children, when [they] see my piece, can get to touch a very complex message [behind the image]. That’s kind of my goal.

What sort of projects do you see yourself doing in the future? What would you like to work on, or is there a person you’d like to work with? What are you excited about?

Well, two or three years ago, I would have said my next project is a movie. But now we’ve already got the studio and we’re starting on it. So…my next stuff is [focused on] how can I mix fine art and film and fashion and jewelry and design? And how to combine everything? That’s what I’m interested in, and I want to think about it in a concrete way.

And how do I present this to the public [and maintain] this feeling? So that one day, I can have a conversation with a jewelry designer, and I’ll have an idea which can quickly move through my brain, and at the same time, the next day [it can have an influence on] an animation storyboard. I’d like to present that sort of feeling to the public. When I make one painting that will be good, my next step is then how to take the idea that worked so well in that painting and apply it to other mediums. But I don’t know a good method yet.

How to tie in everything you do?

Yes, like the Big Flowerball is one of the kind of success projects. It looks like a sculpture, but the children, they can say: ‘This is the stuff I like.’ For me, I understand the background, that this is a really complex project. The Flowerball is expressed in many different forms, from a design object like the one exhibited at Design Miami/, to an artistic sculpture, or a painting. Essentially, there is one big concept, one big idea, and although its form changes, everything is always connected. We never know when we started with this project [how it might turn out], but something like that process is really appealing to my feelings now.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Interview: Emin Kadi

Words: Anna Carnick