RYOONO: The Tenderness Of Garden Vegetables

22 Aug 2008 Category: Events & Exhibitions, Fashion, Illustration, Japan

RYOONO: The Tenderness Of Garden Vegetables

Inspired by nature: RYOONO's slinky okra patterns for Japanese fashion brand Synchronicity's rucksacks.

Illustrator RYOONO must love his garden veggies a lot! So much, that he lets blooming petals, slender chilli peppers, legumes, various leaf structures, luscious eggplant or lusty artichokes intertwined with bones into his delicate patterns for walls or sporty apparel. PingMag had a short chat with RYOONO at his current UNDULATION exhibition at hpgrp Gallery Tokyo.

Written by Verena

Colourful workout?! Wall painting for Phoenix kickboxing gym (!) in 2006. You can see the studs of the boxing ring…

First, when did you start drawing illustrations?

I dropped out of college when I was 19, because it wasn’t fun. At the time, I was only thinking about working as a professional as soon as possible and the best I could do at the time was illustration. Back then, I thought that I had no future unless I withdrew from college…

And is this your first solo exhibition now?

No, actually I did one with wall paintings called “Love Line” four years ago.

Stylish packaging design for a tobacco company, 2007.

And by now, illustration has become your full-time job?

Yes.

You seem to have a pretty broad range: For example, I saw your street art in Daikanyama, Tokyo,…

I’m doing that with permission, so that’s not street art.

Okay. But doesn’t the fact that the picture is in the streets and everybody walking by can enjoy it mean that it’s also street art?


CD cover for hip-hop group Da Pump’s “LEQUIOS” album from 2005.

The term street art itself is overused in Japan and the word doesn’t leave a very good impression. That’s why I don’t want it to be used for my work.

Hm, okay. Then, what kind of artist do you consider yourself? I mean, are you a fashion illustrator or a painter…?

I don’t really care, you can call me whatever suits you. I certainly do a lot of apparel works but I don’t want to be limited to just being a fashion illustrator. When I started doing this work, everything was strictly categorized and I used to hate that. It didn’t seem attractive and all looked the same anyway. However, it doesn’t matter what people say either, because that has nothing to do with me. How can I put it…

Right, I get your point. Your illustrations look as though they were all drawn digitally but they’re actually hand-drawn, right?

Yes, including all the layouts. It isn’t done by just taking a photo to do the layouts digitally and putting it up on the wall.

Elegant wall paint inside the Namba Marui department store in Osaka, 2005.

So it’s all done in analog with you cutting out each layer and laying it out together afterwards? Must be quite time-consuming….

Yes. But this is the most important process of all. The good thing about computers is that you can instantly simulate what is in your mind, but I feel that it’s also really important to put a lot of time into finishing something. It’s like a Ghost Leg. With the computer you can reach the goal instantly, but here you have to think of other paths and options when you reach a certain point. I suppose it’s all about using your own hands. It’s not that putting the art up on the wall is the most important thing, and you make mistakes even if you use your hands and put a lot of time into it, but there is something to gain from that…


Street wall paint in posh Daikanyama, Tokyo.

We can totally understand that! How do you develop your ideas usually?

My ideas come from meeting people and all sorts of things in my everyday life, for example, going out for shopping with friends and seeing beautifully coordinated clothes.

Then, is there anything that inspires you? Like dreams and so….

Please don’t take me wrong here – it’s not that I’m not inspired by anything at all, but I don’t think people would want to make things if they already have something that they are satisfied with. I want to make something that I’ve never seen before, or things someone will enjoy, something that no-one has ever seen. Things that might exist or that might not exist already. I read magazines and second-hand books as starting point, but it’s hard to tell the line between my original ideas and outside inspiration. The range of things I like is naturally limited.

RYOONO’s collabo with Quicksilver and Japanese brand Kinetics: Detail of a T-shirt line that just came out this July. Tasty!

Have you ever been commissioned to do something the client already saw in your patterns?


No, nothing. But being completely free is just as scary too, because I have to set the rules myself. I don’t think this solo exhibition is completely free either. And it’s not fun if you don’t have a certain set of rules anyway. But then, I still would have to make it appear as though I had total freedom.

Bloody patterns! Find the frogs… From the Quicksilver x Kinetics x RYOONO fashion line.

Lastly, don’t forget about the apt footwear…

… flipflops from the Quicksilver collabo.

That’s the challenge! What would be your next goal?

I would like to work with a hotel, like fabrics and walls, because hotels are in some ways the essence of our lifestyle and it feels as though everything you need is in there. Doing wallpapers would be fantastic, that would be really appealing to me. Something in the lines of Hotel Okura would be nice, although I like both things old and new.

Luscious eggplant?! From the current UNDULATION exhibition at hpgrp gallery Tokyo. Until August 31st!

Illustration detail: You can make out the different layers of the collage. From the UNDULATION exhibition.

We would love to see that! Lastly, what are your working on right now?

There’s one project coming out soon and it’s a CD jacket for reggae band Sly and Robbie. It will be released in September, the rest would be the regular apparel work.

Oh, summer reggae! Thank you, RYOONO! We really want to lay our hands on those awesome Quicksilver shorts!

Walk by RYOONO’s exhibition in Omotesando, peopls!

Info:
RYOONO: Undulation
At hpgrp Gallery Tokyo, 3F 5-2-11 Jingumae, Shibuya. Map.
Until August 31st. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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