The Strange World of Women’s Private Time

10 Aug 2006 Category: Events & Exhibitions, Features, Illustration, Japan, Uncategorized

The Strange World of Women’s Private Time

© Makiko Sugawa

Tucked away in a quiet, Aoyama backstreet is Space Yui, a charming little event space that is currently host to an unusual exhibition by illustrator Makiko Sugawa. Entitled “Women’s Private Time”, this collection of 50 line drawings depicts women in a variety of positions and situations - from the erotic to the bizarre. PingMag had the chance to ask Makiko some quick questions about her illustrations.

Interview by Jon

Makiko Sugawa surrounded by her illustrations

An Osaka resident, “Women’s Private Time” is Makiko’s first exhibition in Tokyo.

“Lace Queen” is a play on words - “Race Queen” is the Japanese word for a bikini-clad female racing car model.

© Makiko Sugawa

PingMag: In your illustrations, more so than facial features or body detail, my eyes are drawn to the clothes. They are so detailed and fashionable - do you have any aspirations in fashion design?

Makiko: I love to draw them but sadly I have absolutely no skills in making clothes! Illustration allows me to experiment - as you can see with all the lace detailing and beadwork. I think yes, it might be fun to prototype clothes on paper for a fashion house.

I think Agent Provocateur should give you a call…

© Makiko Sugawa

Other than lacy lingerie, some illustrations featured archetypal “erotic” costumes, such as the above nurse.

© Makiko Sugawa

This exhibition focuses on what you call “Women’s Private Time” - I wonder, would you ever consider doing something similar with men as the focus?

Haha no! I’ve only tried to draw men a few times - I’m just no good at it! But also, I find it so much more interesting to draw women - there’s a real sensuality, a sense of drama; lots of underlying emotions and themes that make it much more satisfying, to me.

© Makiko Sugawa

The illustrations with the small animal characters are among Makiko’s latest (and currently favourite) work.

© Makiko Sugawa

A series of 6 illustrations in this exhibition features a sexy, female form - with a false leg or even an amputated leg. How do you think audiences react to this?

Naturally I expect it to have some kind of impact. I think it creates an interesting contrast - we have this erotic female form dressed in lingerie, with a rather mechanical looking leg. I wonder if it’s then possible for the audience to attach a sense of beauty to something that is mechanical, artificial?

© Makiko Sugawa

Something like sexiness by osmosis…

Yes. Also, I wanted to see if such a style could even be considered fashionable in its own right.

© Makiko Sugawa

© Makiko Sugawa

Beautifully detailed lacework on the girls’ underwear

The Good Girl’s Guide To Bad Girl Sex

Makiko’s illustration work can also be seen in the Japanese translation of The Good Girl’s Guide To Bad Girl Sex, shown above.

“Women’s Private Time” is open until Saturday 12th August, 5pm. If you are in the Aoyama area, it’s well worth a look. Makiko says her website is “coming soon”, but for now if you want more information on this series of illustrations, you can go here.

Thanks for your time Makiko, and come back to Tokyo soon!

33 Comments

  1. sexy girls rock.
    kinky girls rock harder.
    i like girls.

    Posted by: aw3qc on August 11th, 2006 at 12:44 am

  2. nice! good article

    Posted by: @lien.mly on August 11th, 2006 at 1:25 am

  3. good style. :D
    very sex graphic, its a very successful package design.

    Posted by: x-noise on August 11th, 2006 at 4:28 am

  4. Beautiful illustrations… spacious but yet graciously detailed. Love it. Is she selling her illustrations online somewhere?

    Posted by: Wicked on August 11th, 2006 at 6:19 am

  5. Perhaps Ms. Sugawa should stick to drawing as a ‘private’ hobby. In what way is Ms. Sugawa an ‘unusual’ illustrator? Who isn’t making erotic amputee pop art in Japan? These illustrations are unoriginal, uninspiring, and border on ugly. There is better erotic art being shown in Japan, better amputee art, and better illustrations. It’s not even that one cannot understand the artist; it’s that she doesn’t have anything to say. She is not presenting something novel; she is not refining an old/borrowed idea. What was her purpose? Does she even have one? Or does she just want idiots to clap their hands and compliment her? Everything about her work screams ‘poor imitation’ and ‘zero talent.’

    Meh. I didn’t even come here to say that. It’s just that looking at rubbish tagged as art makes me irritable. I actually wanted to give you kudos on your web design. I saw your color scheme on Netcocktail and liked it.

    Posted by: gazoza on August 11th, 2006 at 11:14 pm

  6. Your comments are what make the internet a toilet.

    Posted by: gazora is a douche on August 13th, 2006 at 12:49 am

  7. if u dont like something doesn meant others dont like it… fxxk of!

    Posted by: gazoza sucks on August 13th, 2006 at 4:20 am

  8. despite whatever comments people might have, I think the drawings rock! thanks pingmag!

    Posted by: Francisco on August 13th, 2006 at 8:46 am

  9. i love the illustrations. it is good to take some time off, where things doesn’t have to have a purpose of some sort to feed the intelligentsia. so gazoza, relax. it is just a joy to draw and period.

    Posted by: vykny on August 13th, 2006 at 10:12 pm

  10. [...] The Strange World of Women’s Private Time Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

    Posted by: i.have.no.com » Blog Archive » Women’s Private Time on August 13th, 2006 at 10:47 pm

  11. When discussing art, there is nothing more enraging than hearing a self-made critic nattering on about originality or talent or whatever bug is up their arse at the time. Really, who gives a FUCK what you think?

    Even if you don’t like the work, using critisim as a way to work off your angst is very poor form.

    I’m quite sure you wouldn’t voice your critism so violently if you had to speak directly to Makiko.

    Posted by: Mr eel on August 15th, 2006 at 6:30 pm

  12. Hmmm…
    Perhaps I agree with Gazoza. Romain Slocombe borrows Maruo Suehiro in the Ero-guro universe. This seems watered down and uninspired.

    Posted by: Permalink on August 15th, 2006 at 7:21 pm

  13. ure always going to get people who dislke your work, dont worry about it. you shouldnt try to make art to make other people happy, you should make it for yourself. and then its your perogotive if uyou want to even share it.

    i love the drawings, simple and clean. good work:)

    Posted by: Tewt on August 16th, 2006 at 11:05 pm

  14. simple and clean but abnormality and ugly,you haven`t beautiful heart,so you just can do this kind of works

    Posted by: www on August 17th, 2006 at 4:33 pm

  15. Hey, that looks a lot like what I was doing when I was alive.
    Right on!

    Posted by: Aubrey Beardsley on August 18th, 2006 at 4:53 pm

  16. beautiful work.

    Posted by: TommyKane on August 18th, 2006 at 11:37 pm

  17. I like them. I think it’s amazing how much drawing like that can convey. Those expressions of girls are full of differerent kind of feelings.

    Posted by: ヤーッコ on August 23rd, 2006 at 4:42 pm

  18. nice illustrations, though i don’t know if i would call it “art”.
    + about gazoza: to think about art/illustration as a competition sucks. good illustrators just try hard to improve themselves. if the work is personal, even better. look at he adorable book-covers!

    Posted by: florin on August 25th, 2006 at 2:24 am

  19. Kinky, unusual, yet very interesting drawings

    Posted by: Jasmine on August 27th, 2006 at 2:05 am

  20. forget what those idiots say, artists inspire other artists and your stuff is great!!!!! keep up the good work and i love your illustrations!!!

    Posted by: brixtonia on August 29th, 2006 at 6:07 pm

  21. I feel that the faces of her art have such feeligns of innocence yet a real display of an almost 20’s style tabboo. As a male designer of erotic glassware I feel that her art captures a sence of silence combined withthe needs that women from all walks of life endure.

    Posted by: james V. Ferraro III on August 30th, 2006 at 1:32 am

  22. lovely stuff. really cool.

    Posted by: soo on August 30th, 2006 at 7:21 pm

  23. Makiko-san, you made beautifully absurd single-color drawings. I don’t really understand art history, but your creation entertains certain people, including me. Ganbatte ne~!

    Posted by: mcgr on September 4th, 2006 at 11:00 pm

  24. I think there is some validaty to what gazoza was saying. Although I do believe in the importance of encouraging each other in the design community, we should also be able to look at things in the opposite way. If all Makiko got was praise, it would be a disservice to her. That said, perhaps gazoza could’ve beeen kinder in his/her tone.

    Posted by: Ianation on September 5th, 2006 at 5:07 am

  25. I have to agree with lanation. Criticism is only going to help the artist, yet there is also an art to constructive criticism. The work itself as Gazoza points out, is not revolutionary or avante guarde, but it is technically sound. You can see that the artist has put a lot of time and consideration into each piece. The work may not be that interesting to some, but it still has merit nonetheless. There are definitely ways to take this work to different levels and that is up to the artist. This is Ms. Sugawa’s ‘first show’ and I hope she considers all this feedback for her future work and next show. Good Luck and stay wit it.

    Posted by: Punctum on September 5th, 2006 at 10:41 am

  26. All I wan to know is, if you (Ms Sugawa) is interested in BEING on of your drawings, or fantasies. Maybe we can both come up with some more. johnsmith564@hotmail.com

    Posted by: John Smith on December 27th, 2006 at 8:35 pm

  27. some of the illustration is rather disturbing in a way but i liked it, simple yet meaningful work . good job :)

    Posted by: pris on December 31st, 2006 at 5:00 pm

  28. Hello, I like your artwork!! I am a yarn addict and artist. I am currently working on crocheting fetish/lingerie wear and was wondering if you would allow me to use the dangling woman illustration in my business cards and website design. I would list you as the artist so you name would appear anytime I used this illustration. Oh can you tell me the japanese word for fetish? Thank you so much!! I dont know much about the art scene in Japan but I like the work you are doing!

    Posted by: Miss Soulbaby on January 13th, 2007 at 3:02 pm

  29. beautiful!

    Posted by: chewmin on September 6th, 2007 at 5:47 pm

  30. [...] Makiko’s interview with PingMag here, on her exhibition “Women’s Private Time” which showcases a collection of 50 line [...]

    Posted by: startdrawing.org | the asia drawing portal on December 6th, 2007 at 10:09 am

  31. [...] Makiko Sugawa fantastische (!) Illustratorin mit furchtbarer Site [...]

    Posted by: popnutten :: le blog plus cool :: Kurze on December 13th, 2007 at 2:04 am

  32. [...] Leer Entrevista. [...]

    Posted by: Ladies`Time:Perspectiva femenina | Mundochica | Moda, decoracion y sexo on December 20th, 2007 at 11:36 pm

  33. [...] New Feminine in 2000, Ladies Time in 2001 and Lace Queen in 2006. Makiko’s first book, Lace Queen was recently published. x  Nincsenek hozzászólások eddig Szólj hozzá A [...]

    Posted by: japán2 « n on February 6th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

  • Share and Enjoy:
  • del.icio.us
  • digg
  • Fark
  • NewsVine
  • RawSugar
  • Reddit
  • YahooMyWeb
Previously on PingMag