Speech Balloons
Reconstructed speech balloons from comic books and made patterns on Washi, these uniquely balanced patterns are reminiscent of Jackson Pollock, known as an abstract expressionist. Nakamura’s very first Speech Balloons work is sampled from three actual popular weekly magazines in Japan; Jump, Magazine, Big comic spirits. The title of the art Nakamura made was Jump, Magazine, and Spirits. The images of his arts are derived from the environment and era he grew up with such as comic books, animations and pop cultures rather than Japanese traditional arts.
A single speech balloon without words in it is nothing more than emptiness. However, by putting together a number of speech(less) balloons in the piece to make a sort of hustle and bustle aspect that reflects the everyday grind. Another series of his work, “Speech Balloons in the Hinomaru” (2008), the Speech Balloons were imaged in the middle of Japan’s flag.
Through this, Nakamura’s intention is to remind viewers that the image is of his own country’s difficulty to define itself, the image shows that the flag is fading out without words or being eaten away by the empty balloons, a figurative reflection of what Nakamura feels is happening to the fabric of his country. These subliminal messages behind his works are core for Nakamura.
Reconstructed speech balloons from comic books and made patterns on Washi, these uniquely balanced patterns are reminiscent of Jackson Pollock, known as an abstract expressionist. Nakamura’s very first Speech Balloons work is sampled from three actual popular weekly magazines in Japan; Jump, Magazine, Big comic spirits. The title of the art Nakamura made was Jump, Magazine, and Spirits. The images of his arts are derived from the environment and era he grew up with such as comic books, animations and pop cultures rather than Japanese traditional arts.
A single speech balloon without words in it is nothing more than emptiness. However, by putting together a number of speech(less) balloons in the piece to make a sort of hustle and bustle aspect that reflects the everyday grind. Another series of his work, “Speech Balloons in the Hinomaru” (2008), the Speech Balloons were imaged in the middle of Japan’s flag.
Through this, Nakamura’s intention is to remind viewers that the image is of his own country’s difficulty to define itself, the image shows that the flag is fading out without words or being eaten away by the empty balloons, a figurative reflection of what Nakamura feels is happening to the fabric of his country. These subliminal messages behind his works are core for Nakamura.
| "SPEECH BALLOON" |