Nakamura Kyoko

Kyoto illustrator Kyoko Nakamura draws a retrofuturist Japan in colour. Social media is how a young generation of makers is seen; she posts on Instagram and Twitter.

Through these various digital platforms, you can check out her work, dominated by clear lines, illustrating a certain Japan of the 1980s, inspired by her present surroundings, representing an era when flashy colours were everywhere, in both design and fashion. In order to depict this unique aesthetic, the artist employs both digital techniques, such as photoshop, and artisanal materials including acrylic gouache.

Kyoko Nakamura opens the doors on an imagined world, adorned with shops for invented toys, warm baths and kissatens. Her colourful neon illustrations primarily feature shops, bedrooms or portraits of a new generation. Each work is characterised by crammed landscapes and a disorienting level of detail. A number of pieces also feature traditional elements from Japanese culture, such as the fox or Torii shrine gates.

Beyond words but accessible to all, Nakamura’s work is able to both reinvent and pay homage to a Japan built on pop culture.