INTERVIEW

Onomatopoeia by Lena Yokoyama

Illustrator and printmaker, Lena Yokoyama, has created a new series of work exhibited at tokyobike in London, exploring the intricacies of Japanese Onomatopoeia; a linguistic concept that in Japan takes on a particularly distinctive role. 

'Onomatopoeia' is the result of an artist residency in 2022, where Lena travelled to Japan to explore the space onomatopoeia embodies in the Japanese language, describing sounds, movements and feelings, that are also often difficult to put into the words of another language. The self-initiated series is an extension of her ongoing observations into the intricacies of language and the untranslatable, and how visuals can play a part in that; themes that recur throughout her practice.

The series features ten expressive artworks, each illustrating a different Onomatopoeia, presented along with the situation they were experienced while in Japan, reflecting particular feelings, moods and experiences without the need for words. The works have been carefully screenprinted by Private Press and VaryLab in limited editions of ten, signed by the artist, in Lena's signature use and layering of colour.

To find out more about the project, we spoke with Lena about how it came about, what makes Japanese Onomatopoeia so unique, and some of the challenges in representing such an integral part of Japanese language and culture. 

It’s such a playful concept in language that kids in Japan seem to pick up very early on in life. It’s a lovely way to start understanding the world around you, in ways that sometimes I feel we don’t get to experience in the West.

– Lena Yokoyama

Your work often explores the bridge visuals can provide between cultures and languages. Can you tell us about this focus as an artist?

As I grew up between different countries, including Japan and Austria, I was often faced with the challenge of translation. The more fluent I became in one language, the more I realised how often concepts and ideas are closely tied to a culture and can therefore be hard to put into the words of another language. This linguistic conundrum led me quite early on to a desire of communicating my ideas in a visual way. I always felt that whatever nuances can’t be explained verbally, might make more sense portrayed in images.

This notion has led me to create my project ‘Visual Translations’ in 2020, where I first looked at this idea of visual translation. My current project ‘Onomatopoeia’ is a continuation of that initial project, with a deeper focus on Japanese verbalisation of sounds, feelings and motions.

Can you tell us about the prints themselves, how have they been created?

Most of the illustrations were created through a combination of cut-out shapes, pencil drawings and digital colouring. All of the pieces were then screenprinted on 300gsm GF Smith Zen paper, using 2-6 layers each. I worked really closely with VaryLab and The Private Press, looking at colours and how they interact when overlayed. It was a really fun process, especially the printing bit, where I learnt so much!

And finally, do you have a favourite onomatopoeia?

I really like ‘Giri-Giri’, although it describes my least favourite situation. It refers to that specific moment where you’re trying to get something done or rushing to get somewhere, only to make it just in time. It’s a state of being that I absolutely try to avoid as it’s super stressful, like when running to catch your bus, handing in your assignment at 1 minute before the deadline, or hoping to finish that movie on the plane before it lands.

Onomatopoeia runs until 26th May 2023 at tokyobike, in London's Shoreditch district, with a limited edition run of screenprints available to buy instore and online. 

www.grandmatter.com/lenayokoyama
www.lena-yokoyama.com/shop
www.tokyobike.co.uk

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