Wakana Yamazaki

posted by Alice Harrison November 11, 2016

Infusing a heart-warming sense of nostalgia through her crazy kitsch aesthetic, freelance illustrator Wakana Yamazaki personifies her abstract graphics, radiating an exuberant energy as each image is decorated through a vibrant and playful palette. Drawn using a ballpoint pen and later coloured digitally, Yamazaki’s designs bring her imaginations to life, awakening the child in all of us as her hyperreal creations include cube cats and folded females.

Yamazaki’s unique approach predominantly focuses on illustration, cartooning and character design, created specifically for publications and adverts. Continuously illustrating over bold block colour backgrounds, each imagery radiates a strong visual impact, similar to that of Zenji Funabashi, a graphic designer and teacher of illustration that Yamazaki hails as significant inspiration.

Based in Tokyo, Yamazaki graduated from the Kuwasawa Design School and has since become a member of the Tokyo Illustrators Society, established in 1988 as a platform for illustrators to exchange ideas and promote their talent. During 2016, she has hosted her solo exhibition Baguru at the HB Gallery in Omotesando and will be holding an individual exhibition in a L’illustre Galerie LE MONDE in Harajuku from August 22nd 2017 until August 27th 2017. Additionally, a compilation will be released containing Yamazaki’s manga and original works through French publisher Misma Editions, sometime next year. Keep up to date and follow her Instagram here.