We’ve all been there at one point or another. The mind starts to drift, unable to focus on the task at hand, inevitably pulling you back into the ocean – metaphorically speaking, of course. You’re not really back in the ocean but your imagination is. And before you know it you’re drawing lines onto paper. Eventually you notice the collection of lines starts to resemble waves.
These are the moments you’ll flash back to when you get caught up in Kris Goto’s artwork. It resembles surf doodles, only a hundred times more detailed and aesthetically pleasing than what ended up on your notebooks as a kid. And the moments she recreates are incredibly relatable in the sense that you can easily see yourself mind surfing these same waves day after day. Her style was inspired by both the Japanese cartoons of her childhood and Maori tattoo art (she studied in New Zealand for two years before moving to Hawaii in 2006). Her Rice and Surf series, for example, is inspired by the simple tug of war a surfer battles when they get hungry in the lineup.
Have you ever surfed for a long time, watched the morning crowd leave and the afternoon one roll in, and eventually you tell yourself if you’ll ever paddle in, maybe after this one? Oh nope. Maybe another set. You’re getting thirsty, and possibly very hungry. Wish someone would just deliver a spam musubi to the line up?
Why yes, Kris. We have experienced moments exactly like that.
