Yoshitomo Nara Quotes about Art

Yoshitomo Nara is a famous Japanese painter and sculptor. He is best known for his anime inspired portraits of children with big innocent eyes often hiding sinister motives. Famous Yoshitomo Nara works include “Knife Behind Back”, “Aomori-Ken (Aomori Dog)”, “Frog Girl”, “Sleepless Night”, “Oddly Cozy” and “Light My Fire”.

Mini biography: Born Yoshitomo Nara (奈良 美智) on the 5th of December, 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. In 2019 his 2000 work titled Knife Behind Back sold for $25 million USD at a Sotheby’s auction which made it the highest amount paid for a work by a Japanese artist.

List of Yoshitomo Nara Art Quotes

In the past I would have an image that I wanted to create, and I would just do it. I would just get it finished. Now I take my time and work slowly and build up all these layers to find the best way. Just like you cook so that you know it’s going to be the most delicious, you find a way to make your art the best it can be. Yoshitomo Nara

I never aspired to be an artist; it’s just that I was pretty good at drawing so I thought it may be easier to get into an art university than a regular one, so that’s how I ended up in art school. Yoshitomo Nara

I don’t care much about the audience and their reactions nowadays. It might be another effect of aging. What I wish now is that my works remain for, say, 200 years after my death. Yoshitomo Nara

It’s only in the past four or five years that I’ve worked in a painterly way on the eyes. In the past, my painting was not as detailed. People used to respond to just the image but I’m more concerned about the content and the context. Yoshitomo Nara

I needed a setting which would allow me to isolate myself from others to have a real conversation with the inner-me, in my case. I found my style only after living in solitude. Yoshitomo Nara

In my daily life, I don’t have to interact with people. So, my schedule is all over the place. For example, yesterday I woke up at midnight. But on a regular day, I do sleep between eight and 10 hours. Yoshitomo Nara

With the computer, everything appears the same and flat, whatever you do. You also have the risk of deleting what you’ve just done by some accident. It’d never happen with a pen and paper. Yoshitomo Nara

I very rarely meet with other artists. Artists tend to only want to talk about art. I’d rather talk to people with other interests: people who love movies, or people who love to read, or people who are in professions completely different from mine. Yoshitomo Nara

Picasso is so stiflingly passionate, and I struggle with that. I do think his art is wonderful, but somehow, it just isn’t for me. Picasso just kind of overdoes it. I know society calls that his genius, but as for me, I respect the ordinary philosopher who thinks things through quietly and puts them into action. Yoshitomo Nara

Because of the imagery that I usually work with in my paintings, imagery that some people misinterpret as being manga—like, not a lot of people would see this spiritual side of my work. The fact is I have never once said that I’ve been influenced by Japanese manga. For a very long time I have created my art from a spiritual point of view. It is filled with religious and philosophical considerations. Yoshitomo Nara

I’ve become more and more aware of the power of art produced in a time when all that mattered was immediate human relations. In comparison, contemporary works seem to have little power because they are made too instantly. Yoshitomo Nara

Yoshitomo Nara Self Portrait Print

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