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Finding Unicorn adds Hikari Shimoda to the team roster! We couldn’t believe our eyes as we are fans of Hikari Shimoda and seeing her link up with Finding Unicorn to present to you one of Hikari Shimoda wonderful new art collectables to finish off the year. once again lights up our life with FU transforming Hikari’s 2D art into art collectable sculpture Hidden in the Night: Polar Bear. Hikari explains what lies behind “Hidden in the Night” series. We don’t know about you guys, but we are once again mesmerised by Hikari Shimoda’s signature eyes… Welcome to the world of Hikari Shimoda.
“Having a sense of discomfort in my social attributes, I always live with feelings of alienation and loneliness. In that case, I think it would be nice if I could become a non-human being. The image of the night is very strong when I think of my loneliness. A dark and quiet night will gently wrap up loneliness and snuggle me up. Those who separate themselves from society are unnoticed and silent like the darkness of night.” – Hikari Shimoda
“A dark and quiet night will gently wrap up loneliness…”
Just in time for the holidays, Hikari Shimoda will launch her latest art piece titled “Hidden in the Night: Polar Bear” with Finding Unicorn . The figurine is going to release on December 8th, 2021 6PM PST / December 9th, 10AM Beijing time for pre-order via https://www.findingunicorn.net/
“Hidden in the Night: Polar Bear” Art Figure by Finding Unicorn
Limited Edition of 601
28cm / 11″ inches
$515 USD / 3290 RMB
ABOUT
Sparkling and sweet, Hikari Shimoda’s work is at once enchanting and disarming, portraying a world where cuteness and horror coexist. Based in Nagano, Japan, Shimoda first studied illustration at the prestigious Kyoto Saga University of Art and Aoyama Juku School before beginning her career as a professional contemporary artist in 2008. Soon after, she was selected for her first solo exhibition at Motto Gallery in Tokyo and has since held exhibitions in galleries worldwide, including Japan, the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Inspired by the Japanese manga and anime from her youth, Shimoda’s work expresses modern day issues in colorful and illustrative techniques. Often depicting starry-eyed children, she dresses her characters in heroic costumes resembling Superman and magical girls, an anime sub-genre of young girls who uses magic, revealing problems and struggles in contemporary society through a juxtaposition of brushwork, text, and collage. Such characters are a commentary on Christianity’s anointment of Jesus Christ as a savior of humanity, and a mirror of our fantasy heroes. They also represent our adult desire to nurture the children of the world and to defend the world we have constructed.
Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and accident of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011, Shimoda became increasingly interested in various connections in the world. In her portrait series “Whereabouts of God”, featuring other-worldly children adorned with a Chernobyl necklace, and “Children of This Planet”, children act as a blank canvas for what she describes as countless possibilities; where fantasy meets with reality, past meets future, life meets death, and a world that is yet to be reborn. Not only do eyes communicate each character’s personality, they are also a reflection of Shimoda’s own feelings and ideas:
“They are “anyone” who just exists. So, they could also exist beyond the realm of being children, and identify with anyone who might appreciate them. Those children who are wearing a vacant expression of despair and solitude are mirroring the emotions of the people who look at them. Those vacant children are, so to speak, “cups of my emotions”- something which I could pour my emotion into. Their sparkling eyes are staring into space, while reflecting both light and darkness, and those horns are a metaphor of wordless emotions like fury and despair that people feel towards unreasonable things in this world.” With each new piece, Shimoda advances her search for salvation and her deeper understanding of this chaotic world. – hikarishimoda.com
Find Hikari Shimoda at http://hikarishimoda.com/ and Instagram.
All media and info lifted from hikarishimoda.com/
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