Kawashima Orimono 1997

This artwork, Kawashima Orimono by Tadanori Yokoo, looks like it was constructed through layering and collage, a method I can really get behind. I just love the electric colors: purples, reds, yellows and oranges, crashing up against each other. I'm trying to imagine what Yokoo was thinking when they made this! To me, it’s like Yokoo is wrestling with the question of how to represent a company or a place. What bits of image, symbol, and color do you combine? It's a total mash-up of traditional imagery and pop-art sensibilities, and that tension is what makes it so alive. There’s something brave about just throwing different images together and hoping they spark some kind of new meaning, but that's how creative breakthroughs happen. It reminds me of other artists like Peter Saul, who weren’t afraid to mix high and low culture. This piece makes me want to be bolder in my own work!