naomi okubo





The work of Japanese painter Naomi Okubo makes me want to be 13 again, at a sleepover with all of my best girlfriends… with streamers and as many patterned textiles as possible! That is honestly what I thought the moment I saw this work, which is actually really interesting considering that her statement, about much of the work featured here, is the complete opposite:

… In my adolescence, I had felt fear what others thought about me. As a result, I had been confused how I should relate to others. Through this experience, I have showed plural self-portraits in my works. This idea is that I could escape the fears that came from the relationship with others if all people in the world were myself. My expression was based this abnormal teased feeling.

See? Very different than a sleepover with all of her best girlfriends. It breaks my heart that anyone would feel like this as a kid, but wow, what an absolutely stunning way to visualize those feelings.

{via Booooooom}






comments (8)

  1. Lesley | Artsy Forager /// 01.29.2014 /// 9:02am

    Isn’t her work incredible??! I love love love it.

  2. Erika /// 01.29.2014 /// 10:53am

    So insanely beautiful!

  3. Timja /// 02.01.2014 /// 1:32am

    Since I’m in love with patterns and colors I just find this fantastic! It reminds me a bit of Yoshitaka Amanos work, he also works a lot with patterned fabrics in his drawings. These paintings actually makes me a bit jealous đŸ˜‰

  4. Marisa /// 02.03.2014 /// 8:00pm

    Where can we buy her work or prints of it?? Please help I can’t find it anywhere! đŸ™‚

  5. Susan /// 02.25.2014 /// 6:27pm

    Swoon worthy, I felt like my eyes just went on a colorful, beautiful vacation. Thank you, thank you for the find!

  6. naomi okubo self-portraits | Arts in the News /// 06.18.2016 /// 3:37am

    […] This is the stunning work of Tokyo based artist Naomi Okubo. I wrote about her a little over two years ago and as you can see by these paintings, I had to write again. These are self-portraits… in plural. […]

  7. sarah /// 03.04.2017 /// 3:06pm

    where can we buy her work?

  8. the jealous curator /// 03.04.2017 /// 8:20pm

    sarah, there are links to both her etsy shop and her saatchi art shop at the bottom of this post.