Shallow Puddles, 2006

Shallow Puddles, 2006

Yoshitomo Nara, Shallow Puddles, 2006, Acrylic on cotton mounted on FRP, 37 3/8 × 37 3/8 × 5 7/8 in. (95 × 95 × 15 cm),  © Yoshitomo Nara 2006, photo by Keizo Kioku, courtesy of the artist

Nara uses his signature “bandage” technique, which he began in the mid-1990s, where he builds the surface up with strips of cotton to create a textured background, which is mounted on FRP board. A girl with pointy bangs and green eyes is submerged so far underwater that only her eyes, nose, and forehead are visible. The rounded structure of the dish-shaped canvas adds to the illusion of depth—as if one is witnessing the drowning of a figure who seems to be in a simultaneous condition of anger and passivity.