Misako Street Art: Iconic and Engaging

Hello Misako, we're delighted to have this opportunity to get to know you! Let's start at the beginning: how did your artistic career start? 

I have always been passionate about art. As a child, I participated in drawing contests. Then, in high school, I discovered Andy Warhol's Pop Art and Pollock's dripping technique. I then went to a fine arts school in France and later had several employment opportunities. 

I was a web designer for eight years before going back to school for my master's degree. At that time, I spent a lot of time in London and in the UK in general. There, I discovered Banksy's world. I adored seeing the cities that were strongly impregnated by the Street Art culture. 

When I returned to France at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, my technique had evolved. I worked differently by mixing both Pop Culture with nostalgia and the urban art of graffiti, which allows to convey some strong messages. 

How does a creative session work? Where do you start?

I always start by working with a graphic tablet on Photoshop. This allows me to limit the general idea that I want to give the work by designing the image I had in my head. 

I will then sketch the general proportion of the canvas as well as the color palette. I then move on to the actual realization by printing the visual on the canvas to be painted.

I never decide on a medium beforehand: it can be acrylic paint, posca, marker, oil pastel as well as aerosols. I also freely mix my mediums.  

I often superimpose materials and mediums to give life and depth to my work. 

At what point do you consider a work to be finished? 

A work is never really finished, it could continue to evolve endlessly like layers of graffiti on a wall to write and rewrite history. However, my higher education has taught me to see beyond the so-called impulsive creativity.

I am not a self-taught artist and my master's thesis director forced me to work on my artistic aim before the realization. As a result, I no longer create empirically. I have to know what message I want to convey before I even start painting. 

By carrying my values and choices, the challenge related to my practice is more easily realized. Once the goal has been visually achieved, I feel that the work can be considered complete.

Your works are full of pop culture icons of all kinds. How do you choose them?

Let's say I'm a child of the 80's, influenced by Pop culture, American TV series, cartoons and advertising. I am subconsciously imbued with all these memories that are an integral part of my life.

When I paint the Dalton brothers on the bodies of the Beatles, or David Bowie on the body of Rocky Balboa, I am creating characters that do not exist. Yet, they speak to everyone because each of us knows these iconic figures that have marked entire generations.

Which artists have and still inspire you?

It's impossible to name them all but I obviously like Warhol, Pollock, Magritte, Banksy, Haring, or even Mondrian and Basquiat. Sometimes, the inspiration is not necessarily graphic but more surrounding their commitment. I love Duchamp, Murakami, Fairey, but also of course women like Yayoi Kusama and Frida Kahlo. 

What message do you wish to convey through your work? 

Each work carries a different message. Nevertheless, my artistic aim and the stakes involved are always the same: to support or denounce a cause or a situation. When you have the luxury of being able to live from your passion, I believe that the least you can do is to open yourself up to the world and try to help others by giving your time.