beinArt Interview with Naoto Hattori
Jon Beinart – "What inspires you Naoto?"
Naoto Hattori – "I simply love to draw from my head. I remember when I was in kindergarten, I always drew made-up characters and made stories with a drawing. Some of my sketch books from my age 3-5 are filled up with tits and peeing images (lol) you can see them on my web page. I remember I drew so many made-up characters when I was in elementary school while in class so all of my drawings from this period are on the textbooks and note books which sucks cause I lost them. I've been painting weird images since I was a kid so I never thought of what really inspires me. Some people decide to become a painter/artist at some point of their life, are inspired by other artists or something, but I can't even recall a point when I became an artist. I still feel like a kid and paint images from my head. That way I can express what I really want to paint without thinking of other people's thoughts or critics."
Jon – "So your mind was perverted from the age of 3 ;) Some of those early drawings are fascinating Naoto. I have noticed a phenomenal amount of art is shown on your website. You must be very dedicated to your art. Do you make time to eat or sleep?"
Naoto – "I usually paint 12-14 hours a day on weekdays. I don' like the way a day is 24 hours cycle. I usually sleep 4 hours but if I don't get tired, I paint 24 hours straight. Because of the style of my artwork, some people think that I'm on drugs when I paint (lol) but there is no way I could paint on drugs. Working on details is more like a needlework. I have to concentrate on every single stroke. I feel like I'm in a trance when I paint. I start painting in the morning and next moment I look outside the window and it's getting dark. I have so many images I want to paint in my head and I can't catch up to paint all. I always think that it would be great if I could get a copy of myself.
I don't paint at all on weekends though. All I need to do is have fun."
Jon – "Two Naoto's. A scary thought! But I believe the world would be a richer place. I'm not sure if the art world is ready for two of you ;) Your answer takes me to another question I have had on my mind. I understand that you have to be sober when you paint, but during your 'fun' weekends do you ever indulge in psychedelics? I only ask because of the mushroom & marijuana references in some of your paintings. Your imagery is also reminiscent of what I have seen on acid."
Naoto – "I have had many experiences on psychedelic substances but they are not helping the direction of my art, but I'm sure they helped me create my imaginary world somehow. They put me into another place where I can open up my mind. I feel like there are so many doors and windows in my mind and some of them are not able to be opened with a sober mind. I used to imagine a still image in my head when I painted but my imaginary world is more like a zoo now. I see so many images, characters, creatures living in my head. I grab hold of them and paint. Recently, I see so many weird animals in my head and I don't know why…"
Jon – "What kind of feedback have you received in your career. I'm sure you have been praised countless times for your technique and imagination, but have you received much negative feedback or have you been subject to any abuse because of the explicit content of your work?"
Naoto – "I get really good feedback which makes me happy to keep myself busy. I really appreciate people support my artwork. I don't receive negative feedback but sometimes I get a funny email saying that they think I'm a drug dealer or something. Also some girls keep sending me their naked pictures asking me to use them in my artwork. Oh, I love when people send me a photo of their tattoo based on my art."
Jon – "Naked women and tattoo's eh? You lucky man ;) Who are your favorite artists and why? Have these individuals influenced your own work?"
Naoto – "I like Van Eyck and Bouguereau's paintings. Van Eyck's work is amazing. He puts so many details on a small size board. I believe great artists can paint on a small size canvas/board and show their technique and brush control. It's easy to paint a realistic work on a large scale. My instructor from an art college (School of Visual Arts in NYC) is obsessed with Bouguereau's paintings and I learned portrait technique from his work. But learning from paintings is nothing compared to learning a lesson from nature. Understanding the theory of color, light and shadow, anatomy… etc, makes more sense to my artwork and also help my creatures look alive. That's why I respect Da Vinci. He studied so many things for his work."
Jon – "Many of my friends are obsessed with psychedelic trance (I'm more of an old school Blues and Tom Waits fan myself). I have noticed your images printed on a few psytrance CD's and have always wondered whether you listen to this genre of music. What music do you listen to? Do you listen to music when you paint?"
Naoto – "I like DJing. I spin breaks, drum and bass, Chicago house and hip-hop. I listen to psytrance too. I have a lot of friends into the psytrance scene too. I used to go to parties every weekend when I was in New York. I've been busy painting for upcoming shows so my turntables are collecting dust now. I barely listen to music when I paint. Sometimes I put some music on randomly from my i-pod."
Jon – "Please give us more details about these upcoming exhibitions. Also, will your work be featured in any new publications? Do you have any exciting news for our readers?"
Naoto – "I really love showing my work at gallery shows. It's hard to see details and correct color on the low-res images on the website. the gallery show is the way people look at my artwork up close. I have been working on my book project so I hope I can publish my portfolio book sometime soon."
Jon – "Naoto's is having a solo show of new works from June 1st – July 1st at the Lineage Gallery – 21 N. 2nd Street Philadelphia, PA USA."
Naoto is also one of 50 artists published in Metamorphosis.
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April 11th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
[...] Portfolio available here and here as well as an interview at Beinart. [...]