Harajuu 91 – 2022 Aspire Gallery Finalist Petit Pieces Prize

My memories of Harajuku, Tokyo Japan 1991. Harajuku is Tokyo’s young fashion district, you get off at the train station at Harajuku and it appears to be a one way street, although it’s so busy that you cannot actually even see the road itself for people shopping. It’s an almost shuffled and claustrophobic experience and if you want to deviate from the path, you might just find yourself being directed where you didn’t want to go, and then you have to try and force yourself back into the one way shopping experience….this is reflected within the painting with the direction of arrows being shuffled and reversed causing confusion which is a feeling you get while walking the streets of Harajuku. I wanted to capture the essence of the entrance and brilliant colour to Harajuku. Getting off the train at Harajuku Station you are met with the most amazing sea of colour. Asians and foreigners alike are adorned with the most unique and colourful otaku/punk fashion on this one way street. I also wanted to incorporate the entrance/arrival feeling by using my design of a cut out in the oak frame that suggests the narrow entry to that incredible sea of colour, which was the feeling of a truly wild and honestly colourful experience that was Harajuku 1991.

Dimensions: 50 cm x 50cm – Canvas Size

Bespoke Frame – Cut out with Oak Frame – Dimensions: 54cm x 54cm