Paper Smile 2012

Kaws made this 'Paper Smile' sometime around now, and it looks like it was made with screen printing. You know, something about artmaking as a process is like the way we piece together our own lives, right? Here, those blocks of color aren't just shapes, they're more like feelings. There's the way the yellow trim almost vibrates against the black, and how that all sits on top of these big cartoony eyes. It's flat, but it feels like it wants to pop out at you. Like that one little teal slash in the eye on the right - it's so simple, but it changes the whole mood, doesn't it? Kaws reminds me a little of someone like Yoshitomo Nara, playing with that fine line between cute and disturbing. With artists like Kaws, you know that there's more to it than meets the eye. It's like a puzzle, but one where the fun is in turning it over and over, not just solving it.