Makiko Tanaka is a Paris-based artist who has worked on illustrations for the Hanatsubaki serialization and fortune-telling in FASHION HEADLINE. To celebrate the release of her new magazine "Vu Vu" on August 3rd, she is holding an exhibition of her new works at three venues: Morioka Shoten, NADiff Gallery, and SIS Shoten.

FASHIOHN HEADLINE spoke to Makiko Tanaka and Masayuki Morioka of Morioka Shoten, a bookstore that sells only one book and is also hosting the exhibition, to talk about the exhibition.





FASHION HEADLINE (hereinafter, FH):Please tell us about the highlights of the exhibition currently being held at Morioka Shoten.

Tanaka Makiko (hereinafter, Makiko):Since we're a store that sells single books, I was thinking about how to organize the exhibition, but since there's an exhibition being held at NADiff at the same time, I thought I'd do something completely different. NADiff is doing a seaside installation, and since Morioka Shoten is close to Ginza, visitors can take their time to look at Shiseido's Hanatsubaki animation, while also exhibiting idea sketches for the animation and new cute illustrations.

FH:Have you two known each other for a while?

Morioka Masayuki, Owner of Morioka Shoten (hereinafter, Morioka):No, HeHe editor Nakamura Mizue introduced us. But before that, we met by chance in town! 

Makiko:That's right! In Akasaka Mitsuke, a place I never normally go to! 

Morioka:I don't go there very often either. (laughs)

FH:Oh, by the way, what were you doing all the way to Akasaka-mitsuke? 

Makiko:I go back to Japan often, so I went to buy a cell phone and then went for a walk. Then Morioka-san came walking up to me, and I immediately said hello.

Morioka:That's right, he said, "I look forward to your summer exhibition." That's a one in tens of thousands chance! I was shocked.

Makiko:Really! And in Akasaka-mitsuke, which I don't often go to!

Morioka:That was incredible timing, I was so happy.

FH:Did you know Morioka-san, Makiko-san? 

Makiko:Of course. Many of my acquaintances have exhibited at Morioka Shoten.

FH:Do you discuss the exhibition layout with Morioka-san?

Morioka:My involvement varies with each exhibition, but this time I think Makiko made most of the decisions. She came to see me about twice in advance and helped me put together the contents of the exhibition to a certain extent. Makiko decided on the materials, and I decided on the layout.

FH:What did you think when you first saw Tanaka-san's work, Morioka-san? 

Morioka:I used to work for Shiseido, so I often heard about it from the Hanatsubaki editorial department. I like Makiko-san's food illustrations, and since I've been working on a lot of craft projects recently, I felt a strong sense of familiarity when I saw cutlery depicted on the tableware. However, after this exhibition and talk event, I felt a sense of "love" in the works, and my image of them changed.




Makiko Tanaka and Masayuki Morioka

FH:Are you in love? 

Makiko:Love is important! 

Morioka:Love is wonderful, it's wonderful.

Makiko:I think there are many different levels of love, but in that sense, Morioka-san, you're probably in love too, right?  

Morioka:Love, huh...

FH:What does love mean to you, Makiko-san...? 

Tanaka:The feeling of love is always fun, it gives you energy, and as long as it doesn't become a quagmire, it can become a really positive force, so I think it's really important. It makes life more fun. The concept of this exhibition is to express the sadness of love, like how, precisely because we live in a foreign country separated by an ocean, sometimes it works better if we can only meet once a year, like on Tanabata.




Makiko:This work (right) depicts a scene from a sleepless night when I can see an airplane from the window and wonder if I can meet her if I get on that plane, while fiddling with my phone. I also drew the sea, which is the keyword for this work, on the bed.

Morioka:That's right, all of my works feature water surfaces! 




Makiko:This piece (right) is titled "I'm always in a Wi-Fi area, even on thunderstorms..." and it was actually inspired by a friend of mine (laughs). The story is about a woman who is in love with a married man, but can't contact him herself, so she waits for him to contact her at a cafe near the station with Wi-Fi until the last train...

Morioka:That's great.

FH:So sad!

Morioka:Come to think of it, there was a song like that a long time ago. Kobayashi, Kobayashi...Kobayashi Akiko! 

Makiko:Ah! "I turned the dial and stopped~♪" (sung by Makiko)

Morioka:That's right! It's like a modern version of that dial where the dial is replaced by Wi-Fi. But the feeling is the same now as it was back then. That song is great, isn't it?








Makiko:I draw the story on about 60 small pieces of paper and summarize it into 10 seconds, but I have to express the beginning, development, twist, and conclusion in that short time, so I first sketch out the idea on paper and then compose it.

FH:Actually, my niece also loves Makiko's GIF videos.

Makiko:I'm so happy! In fact, I first show them to my French friend's child, Alix, and if she laughs, that's the first hurdle. (laughs) I make it easy for children to understand, but with just enough sexiness in it. The important thing is to keep it simple so that it will make people chuckle during their lunch break every month.

Morioka:I see.





FH:What is the meaning behind the newly released "Vu Vu"?

Makiko:"Vu Vu" ("Vu Vu") is a coined word. The name comes from the French "vu" in d'ej'vu, which is past tense and means "saw," so the collection is mainly comprised of drawings inspired by my years of observing cities, buildings, and French landscapes. It's not particularly meaningful, but rather the sound of it.

FH:Your artistic expression is incredibly diverse, aren't you? Do you differentiate between them? 

Makiko:Originally, I was creating two types of work: detailed depictions of dark monochrome worlds, and the complete opposite: large, psychedelic oil paintings. I'd paint in black and white for a long time, and then color would pop up in my head, and when I felt like I was drowning in color, I'd go back to the black and white world, and it was a cycle of that. Somewhere along the way, I decided to go to France, and I was able to paint freely. For the first time in a long time, I simply painted my favorite foods and music, things I like in reality, rather than fantasy worlds, and it was a lot of fun. I continued drawing these and my first food collection book, "La collection gastronomique," was born. After that, I started getting more and more illustration requests.

In fact, when I was in charge of illustrating macarons for Pierre Hermé Paris, I first came up with a simple girl character drawn with dots and lines. That eventually became a style in itself.



FH:So Pierre Hermé Paris was the catalyst for the creation of these cute girls.
We look forward to seeing your various works in the future!