The Art of Hikari Shimoda

Enter the enchanting and disarming world of Hikari Shimoda where cuteness and horror co-exist.

Inspired by Japanese manga and anime from her youth, Shimoda’s work expresses modern day issues in colorful and illustrative techniques. Often depicting starry-eyed children, she dresses her characters in heroic costumes resembling Superman and magical girls to reveal problems and struggles in contemporary society through a juxtaposition of brushwork, text, and collage.

Such characters mirror our fantasy heroes and represent our adult desire to nurture the children of the world and defend the world we have constructed. Read more…

Featuring over 100 artworks. 148-pages. Hardcover. Full-Colour. 210 x 275 mm

The Art of Hikari Shimoda

Enter the enchanting and disarming world of Hikari Shimoda where cuteness and horror co-exist.

Inspired by Japanese manga and anime from her youth, Shimoda’s work expresses modern-day issues in colorful and illustrative techniques.

Often depicting starry-eyed children, she dresses her characters in heroic costumes resembling Superman and magical girls to reveal problems and struggles in contemporary society through a juxtaposition of brushwork, text, and collage.

Such characters mirror our fantasy heroes and represent our adult desire to nurture the children of the world and defend the world we have constructed.

Those children who wear a vacant expression of despair and solitude are mirroring the emotions of the people who look at them. Those vacant children are, so to speak, ‘cups of my emotions’ — something I could pour my emotion into.

— Hikari Shimoda