HARAJUKU GIRLS (Artist Statement) My paintings, Harajuku Girls, are inspired by Japanese fashion photographer Masayuki Yoshinaga. Since 2006, he has been photographing young Japanese youths parading the streets of the famous Harajuku district of Tokyo wearing clothes creatively assembled and sourced from charity shops to high end department stores. There are many layers within the highly expressive Japanese fashion culture and I have focused on two of them. The younger, teenage group called ‘Fruits’ have a softer appearance while the over-twenties are usually attracted to the ‘Goths and Loli’ (‘Gothic and Lolita’) styles. Loli is defined by frills, ribbons and petticoats and child-like dresses influenced by many western fairy tales such as ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and by 18th Century European fashion. The Gothic fashion in Japan invokes more of a themed dress-up look, such as the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and incorporates influences from anime (animation) and ‘visual rock bands’. This new fashion genre has spread world wide and Harajuku girls have appeared in the video clips of pop divas Madonna and Gwen Stefani. The enormous effort these young people put into their outfits, seeking attention with youthful rebellion, indicates a need to express themselves and to break away from the very conservative culture that they are growing up in. My approach to this work has been to show a contrast between the subject and the surroundings. The new and the old. In each painting I have included something traditionally Japanese: Mt Fuji from a Japanese woodblock print; kimonos; antique vase; plate; fan, umbrella; and a Takashi Murakami inspired handbag. I have also incorporated anime as in the much loved ‘Astro Boy’, ‘Elegant Goths’, and a made up anime character in ‘Warrior Princess’. I have also been inspired by the philosophy of highly successful ‘pop artist’ Takashi Murakami and his use of kawai, a Japanese term that translatess roughly to “cuteness”. I have tried to find ways to incorporate these trends into works that have lasting value.