Aoshima's work is famous for including all sorts of aspects of Japanese culture, both new and ancient. In her pieces, City Glow being no exception, one can see reference to anime and city sprawl (both of which hold importance today in Japan), as well as other themes that draw on older, more timeless Japanese ideas, such as anthropomorphism, spirits and interconnectedness between various life forms.The creation of a dreamlike state seems to be a staple in many of her pieces. While none of her work is necessarily representative of real life, it draws on it and mixes it with the unreal, flowing from one impossible scene to the next, much like a dream. She herself states, "My work feels like strands of my thoughts that have flown around the universe before coming back to materialize." Laura Hoptman, the curator at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh described her work as such: "She makes these big, big murals and most of them -- all of them that I had seen -- are fantasy worlds. They're mostly these wonderful, sexy utopias with floating young girls in long dresses amid flowers. And they're really beautiful as only highly decorative contemporary Japanese work can be."
This mix of the real and the unreal, modern Japanese culture and ancient Japanese culture, is the basis of most of Aoshima's work.Links:
Various examples of work: http://www.blumandpoe.com/chihoaoshima/
Chiho Aoshima's site: http://www.chihoaoshima.com
Photos of City Glow installation in the Tube (Gloucester Road station, 25 July 06 - 25 Jan 207): http://www.itravelnet.com/photography/europe/uk/london/cgmwphotogallery.html
Various murals of City Glow in the NY subway: http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/artwork_show?117
