Ly is a painter who uses black, white, and gray to create urban, fantastical landscapes, as well as unique, highly distinctive monsters. "I love the odorlessness, vibrant colors, and matte texture. The can design is also cute," she says. We spoke to her at "COFFEE STAND IN THE PAINTING," located on the first floor of Color Works' Higashikanda showroom, which stocks her beloved paint, "HIP."
Ly
Ly attended a local art school "from the age of seven until she was about a university student." She attributes her current obsession with black, white, and gray (incidentally, she only wears black in her everyday clothes) to her parents' influence. She says that the wallpaper in her childhood room was black, and her school bag and swimming gear were all black. "My mother hated the color red, so she bought me things for boys, not for girls. But I never particularly disliked it, and just accepted it naturally."
She says that even from a young age she was admitted to being "a bit of an oddball," and that at the age of 11 she experienced her first setback at art school, which she started attending because "there were good friends there."
"In my first year, I would draw circles, triangles, squares, etc. with crayons and then colour them in. After doing that for a while, I got tired of thinking about colours (laughs). Gradually, I started using only two colours. After that, I moved on to watercolors, and then when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school (age 11), I started drawing with pencils. At first I would draw cabbages, but a friend who went to school with me was so good at drawing them. Their drawings really looked like photographs. When I saw that, I realised I couldn't compete with that, and at the same time, I realised that I wasn't good at drawing things that I could see."
After that, Ly was supposed to learn oil painting, but she talked to her teacher directly and was given permission to paint whatever she wanted, however she wanted. At first, she just drew line drawings with a black magic marker. "I became interested in street art when I was in high school, and by college, I had a vision of the world I wanted to paint. However, my technique wasn't up to par with my imagination, so I couldn't paint them. I only drew isolated black monsters. At the time, I couldn't even draw backgrounds. It was about five or six years ago that I was finally able to paint worlds where monsters live. I feel like I've finally been able to do that recently."
Also, the third color besides black and white, "gray," appeared in her paintings during a time when she was feeling the limitations of her own paintings and was struggling.
"I happened to go to a skate park with a friend, and I felt like my feelings and the gray concrete of the skate park connected. I don't like using meaningless colors, but at the time, I had a strong sense of having 'acquired a new color.' From then on, my paintings expanded."
The monsters she draws have names like "HATE-kun," "SHIT-chan," and "SAD-kun." Are these negative emotions the driving force behind her creativity?
"The harder painting is, the more fun it is. The bigger the wall, the harder it is, and the more detail you put into it, the harder it is. I also often paint while feeling frustrated by my lack of skill. Maybe those emotions are coming out. I'm never satisfied with my art. On the other hand, when I become satisfied, I feel like I've had enough of these kinds of art. I actually have a lot of monsters in my head that I haven't shown to the world yet. I don't know why, but sometimes I suddenly think, 'I can draw this'. And once I've managed to draw it, I end up drawing that same character over and over again. I don't even know why that is."
Ly is not good at trying new things, so she has been doing the same thing for a long time. Finally, we asked her about her future plans.
"I want to continue creating works that will last a long time, such as murals. Ever since I was little, I've had trouble drawing the landscapes and monsters that I imagine in my head on a smaller scale. I like working on things the size of a wall because I can draw them in actual size. Also, when I go back to paint on a street wall that I painted a few years ago, elementary school kids will say, 'I always pass by this on my way to school,' and old men who live nearby will talk to me and say, 'Did you paint this?' or 'What does this picture mean?' I think that means my paintings are rooted in the area, and it's the greatest form of communication I can have with others."
LyLy attended a local art school "from the age of seven until she was about a university student." She attributes her current obsession with black, white, and gray (incidentally, she only wears black in her everyday clothes) to her parents' influence. She says that the wallpaper in her childhood room was black, and her school bag and swimming gear were all black. "My mother hated the color red, so she bought me things for boys, not for girls. But I never particularly disliked it, and just accepted it naturally."
She says that even from a young age she was admitted to being "a bit of an oddball," and that at the age of 11 she experienced her first setback at art school, which she started attending because "there were good friends there."
"In my first year, I would draw circles, triangles, squares, etc. with crayons and then colour them in. After doing that for a while, I got tired of thinking about colours (laughs). Gradually, I started using only two colours. After that, I moved on to watercolors, and then when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school (age 11), I started drawing with pencils. At first I would draw cabbages, but a friend who went to school with me was so good at drawing them. Their drawings really looked like photographs. When I saw that, I realised I couldn't compete with that, and at the same time, I realised that I wasn't good at drawing things that I could see."
After that, Ly was supposed to learn oil painting, but she talked to her teacher directly and was given permission to paint whatever she wanted, however she wanted. At first, she just drew line drawings with a black magic marker. "I became interested in street art when I was in high school, and by college, I had a vision of the world I wanted to paint. However, my technique wasn't up to par with my imagination, so I couldn't paint them. I only drew isolated black monsters. At the time, I couldn't even draw backgrounds. It was about five or six years ago that I was finally able to paint worlds where monsters live. I feel like I've finally been able to do that recently."
Also, the third color besides black and white, "gray," appeared in her paintings during a time when she was feeling the limitations of her own paintings and was struggling.
"I happened to go to a skate park with a friend, and I felt like my feelings and the gray concrete of the skate park connected. I don't like using meaningless colors, but at the time, I had a strong sense of having 'acquired a new color.' From then on, my paintings expanded."
The monsters she draws have names like "HATE-kun," "SHIT-chan," and "SAD-kun." Are these negative emotions the driving force behind her creativity?
"The harder painting is, the more fun it is. The bigger the wall, the harder it is, and the more detail you put into it, the harder it is. I also often paint while feeling frustrated by my lack of skill. Maybe those emotions are coming out. I'm never satisfied with my art. On the other hand, when I become satisfied, I feel like I've had enough of these kinds of art. I actually have a lot of monsters in my head that I haven't shown to the world yet. I don't know why, but sometimes I suddenly think, 'I can draw this'. And once I've managed to draw it, I end up drawing that same character over and over again. I don't even know why that is."
Ly is not good at trying new things, so she has been doing the same thing for a long time. Finally, we asked her about her future plans.
"I want to continue creating works that will last a long time, such as murals. Ever since I was little, I've had trouble drawing the landscapes and monsters that I imagine in my head on a smaller scale. I like working on things the size of a wall because I can draw them in actual size. Also, when I go back to paint on a street wall that I painted a few years ago, elementary school kids will say, 'I always pass by this on my way to school,' and old men who live nearby will talk to me and say, 'Did you paint this?' or 'What does this picture mean?' I think that means my paintings are rooted in the area, and it's the greatest form of communication I can have with others."
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