Yoshitomo Nara’s Straight Jacket presents a solitary childlike figure with folded arms and an expression of quiet defiance. They wear a straightjacket, with its sleeves seemingly sewn together. This is a motif Nara has explored in several works, including his 2000 painting Straight Jacket. While traditionally associated with confinement and control, the straight jacket in Nara’s work might symbolise emotional restraint or the societal pressures that bury individuality, even in childhood. The figure’s guarded pose and faintly rebellious expression suggest an inner struggle – perhaps the tension between innocence and resistance that permeates much of Nara’s art.

“These children are not aggressors, but vulnerable beings confronting a hostile world.”

— Yoshitomo Nara

Nara’s broader practice centres on his recurring childlike figures, who embody a childlike sense of imagination as well as an ever-present loneliness. The artist grew up in a remote town in picturesque Aomori, the northernmost province of Japan, located approximately 700 kilometres north of Tokyo. He has recalled a profound loneliness in his childhood; “When you are a kid, you are too young to know you are lonely, sad, upset,” said Nara, “…now I know I was.” His young characters are reflective of this notion, each image a glimpse into another facet of his internal psyche. At the same time, the endearing youthful figures and clean compositions typical of his style make these emotions feel both personal and universal, inviting viewers to reflect on their own inner worlds. Often depicted alone, these characters inhabit quiet, self-contained worlds, amplifying their emotional intensity and individuality. With an unwavering gazes and subtle signs of defiance, Nara’s figures give voice to the raw, unfiltered emotions of childhood, from vulnerability and frustration to pride and resilience.

“Yoshitomo Nara had never hesitated to try new techniques, and he never failed.”

— Hitoshi Kido

Straight Jacket is one of Nara’s twelve etchings printed in collaboration with master printer Hitoshi Kido at KIDO Press Gallery in Tokyo. Executed early in the artist’s career, they were his first series of etchings and Nara drew on the original etching plates himself, unlike for later editioned prints. The body of work innovatively draws on the wealth of traditional Japanese printmaking techniques while utilising etching, aquatint, drypoint, and more. To read more about Yoshitomo Nara’s collaboration with KIDO Press Gallery, read our interview with master printer Hitoshi Kido here.