There’s something mesmerizing about the works of Japanese artist Yukino Ohmura. From a distance, they might resemble intricate paintings or illustrations, but when viewed up close, the elements that compose each frame take on clearer shape: countless spheres dot the canvas, as if the whole composition was assembled from blotched pixels—Ohmura’s art is made entirely from stickers, which, under her hands give form to a variety of colorful cityscapes.
日本华裔艺术家 Yukino Ohmura 的作品拥有一种魔力，远看是画，近看却好似由无数个细小的圆形构成，像是相机在失焦状态下的模糊圆形光斑、或是将图片放大后显现的像素色块。这些五颜六色的圆形均来自市面上廉价的标签贴纸，而恰恰是这稀松平常的办公生活用品，却成为 Yukino 的颜料和画笔，拼贴出她对都市夜景的独特情愫。
In Japan, the circular stickers that she works with are commonly used in schools, homes, and offices for labeling purposes. To use them as an artistic medium was a novel idea to say the least. However, the sheer originality of the medium and the unique aesthetics of the end results have led to high praises for her work across Japan.
Having graduated from Tama Art University with a degree in oil painting, Ohmura never imagined that her medium of choice would be something so uncommon. The concept all began with an assignment during school. “My teacher asked our class to complete 1,000 different works of art,” she recalls. “At the time, I was an abstract painter and I enjoyed working with circular shapes, but it was extremely hard to paint 1,000 canvases. So I tried to have some fun with the assignment and decided to incorporate circular stickers I had at the house onto my paintings.”
Not long after, she had the idea to take it a step further: what if she created an entire artwork solely out of these stickers?
据 Yukino 所说，这种颠覆性的创作方式在日本当地别无他人，从未有人使用圆形标签贴纸来进行创作，让她的作品一经发表，便获得高度评价。而本是日本多摩美术大学油画专业的她，或许此前也从未料想到，一次极其繁重的作业竟让她一改以往的创作思路，“老师让每位同学完成 1000 幅作品。当时，我主要以抽象画为主，圆形主题比较多，想要要连续完成 1000 幅作品是极其辛苦的工作，于是我就抱着玩一玩的心态，尝试为作品增添乐趣，手边的圆形标签贴纸是我最先想到的素材。”随着这种贴纸在创作中使用频率的上升，Yukino 很快有了一个更为大胆的设想 —— 用贴纸完成一整幅绘画。
Since then, Ohmura has turned her focus entirely towards stickers, making painting a supporting element. Although assembling a piece of art with stickers is less technical than painting, it still requires plenty of patience and practice, especially when it comes to the large-scale canvases that she now primarily works with. Some require months and thousands of stickers to complete. The process, which might seem repetitive and tedious, is an enjoyable one for Ohmura. “By showing the process of transforming a familiar material into an artwork helps people to understand any material can be an item to create artwork,” she says. “This change of mindset is what I also want to convey to public.”
之后的艺术生涯里，Yukino 不再以画笔为主要创作工具。她的每幅作品先会在电脑上进行草稿，然后用画笔进行轮廓的绘制，接下来就是贴纸的运用。相较于画笔，贴纸显然没有过多技巧，但要掌握其要领去创作大幅、并且完整的作品，同样需要反复练习和尝试。
在日本，这种圆形彩色贴纸的使用场景通常是学校、家庭、办公室，用来为物品分类、或是生活贴士，想要用它来进行艺术创作，一切全凭 Yukino 自学得来。为了让一片片贴纸拼出整个场景，她的作品通常篇幅较大，对应的工作量不可小觑，有的作品甚至要耗费一个月时间来完成，耗费成千上万张贴纸。而这个听起来重复、枯燥、且需要极大耐心的创作过程，却常常让 Yukino 心生满足，她说：“通过身边熟悉的事物来进行艺术创作，这本身便是艺术价值的一种体现，可以人们去理解——任何一种材料都可以成为创作媒介，这种想法上的转变是我想向观众传递的讯息。”
From aerial vantages of the Tokyo Tower to street-side perspectives of Hong Kong’s dense alleys, Ohmura’s work captures the magical allure of metropolises after dark. In fact, her colorful stickers even resemble the bokeh of how a camera captures a city at night, making it feel particularly feeling.
This affinity for nighttime cityscapes can be traced back to her younger years growing up in eastern Japan, in the city of Yokohoma where a bustling night life captured her imagination. In fact, one of the most frequently depicted setting is the Minato Mirai 21, the commercial district of the port city. Other cities from across the globe have also made appearances, such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, and even her hometown of Jilin.
In the end, Ohmura simply hopes to make her art that’s approachable for all, no matter their backgrounds, and the unpretentiousness of her medium and the universal appeal of these beloved metropolises all work in tandem towards this goal.
无论是静静闪耀的东京塔、还是香港夜色下的灯光游行，Yukino 的作品总与城市夜景有关。你也许会说，这些彩色贴纸会与夜晚的霓虹、和光束达成某种默契，但城市夜景的确是她的钟爱。Yukino 流有中日血统，在很小的时候便随家人从中国吉林搬去日本横滨居住。横滨是日本东部的国际港口城市，面朝太平洋，童年时的她常常被这里繁华的夜景吸引。与此同时，横滨是日本少数有中华街存在的城市，Yukino 认为这与她的重叠身份很相似。在她早期的作品中，横滨21世纪未来港（Minato Marai 21）是最常出现的场地。后来，她还以家乡吉林、上海、香港、台北、东京等城市作为创作背景，但依然保留了夜景的主题。
Yukino 的作品并不蕴含深奥的旨意，对她来说，只想以一种平易近人的方式去记录不同现代都会在夜里发生的故事记录下这数个璀璨闪耀的、平静的、令人神往的夜，都由这一个个小小的圆形贴纸拼就而成。
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Contributor: Pete Zhang
