ILLUSTRATED:
Yoshitomo Nara: The Complete Works Volume 1, ChronicleBooks LLC, San Francisco, 2011, color illustrated,no. S-2000-001, p. 270 (different size version illustrated)

“When I am creating something, it is natural for me to wander between the me as an adult and the me as a child.”

Japanese writer, Banana Yoshimoto had the chance to collaborate with Yoshitomo Nara, she describes his work as: “an ice- cold world built by deep feelings of remorse and loneliness, but Yoshitomo Nara’s heart is definitely not evil. And I would definitely rather live in a world like this.” Characters created by Nara often carry a dismissive or even malicious look, but Nara’s works always have a hidden aura or hints, this brought his commercial works into the field of contemporary art, even into museum collections. We have to admit that the mushroom-headed children who wish to speak but don’t on a second thought indeed make us steeped in thought. And the loneliness revealed in their eyes also reflect the inner selves in you and me.

All characters in Yoshitomo Nara’s works share one feature: they are all alone. Either with their eyes open or shut, they refuse to interact with others. The small and pretty face, eyes wide open, shutted lips and a sense of embarrassed smile of Little Pilgrim (Night Walking) all emits a childish but melancholic atmosphere. Such a paradox reflects Nara’s mindset when making his works, as he commented: “When I am creating something, it is natural for me to wander between the me as an adult and the me as a child.” Nara’s childhood has a strong impact on his works, and is even one of his main themes. Instead of dismissing this as a kind of nostalgia, we may take a different attitude, and consider this as part of Nara’s consistency, in which his most innocent thoughts as a child are preserved.

Unlike what a viewer may think at the first glimpse, Little Pilgrim (Night Walking) is not wandering in a dream world full of unknowns with eyes shut. Instead, what it represents is the determination to set forth toward one’s dream even with one’s eyes closed, as well as the simplicity of fighting for one’s dream even when asleep. The children portrayed in Little Pilgrim (Night Walking) also reflects Nara’s thoughts toward his hometown, a thought of the past, but never really passed away. It is a reminiscence to his childhood, a reborn of the childhood, the memories and the people he encountered in his life. Along his life till now, the gratefulness and the initial ideals were never forgotten.