O nly Faces Appear in My Mind is an unrivalled example of Yoshitomo Nara’s works on paper, created during one of the most cherished periods of the artist’s career in 2000, the year of his return to Japan from Germany. A rare work in terms of its impressive size and the uncommon pig-tail motif, Only Faces Appear in My Mind is an exceptional paperwork to make its auction debut. Embodying Nara’s Neo Pop aesthetic that eschews traditional distinctions between high art and popular culture, the artist’s choice of paper as the surface for this work allows for unmatched experimentation and artistic expression, granting Nara more spontaneity and freedom in his visual language.

Unusual in his paintings of mischievous little girls, Nara writes “ONLY FACES APPEAR IN MY MIND” in the hair of the child, an intriguing visual element that not only adds textural depth but also demands the viewer’s attention in deciphering its meaning. Further, Only Faces Appear in My Mind embodies the spirit of punk rebellion that permeates Nara’s oeuvre, a fantastic mix of acrylic and colour pencil with smudges and drips enhancing the energy and uniqueness of the work. Brazen and rebellious, the enlarged head of the little girl takes up the entirety of the image, staring unflinchingly at the viewer with Nara’s iconic triangular eyes. Test.mes nt to the significance of the work, Only Faces Appear in My Mind was exhibited alongside another large-scale paperwork, Young Mother (2000), at Takashi Murakami’s landmark exhibition Superflat at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2001, a seminal survey of Japanese contemporary art on the international stage.

By 2000, Nara’s work had gone through a period of development and refinement, culminating in the iconic works of his signature mischievous little girls, as exemplified by the pig-tailed child in Only Faces Appear in My Mind. Over the course of the 1990s, the artist began to eliminate superfluous elements in the background, favouring a monochrome setting that placed the focus on his subjects and their emotions. Nara’s artistic development was greatly influenced by his t.mes in Germany from 1988 to 2000, establishing the archetypal characteristics of his “Nara girl” as strikingly depicted here, in which, as defined by art historian Yeewan Koon; “her childlike expressions resonate with adult emotions, her embodiment of kawaii (cuteness) carries a dark humour, and any explicit cultural references are intertwined with personal memories” (Yeewan Koon, Yoshitomo Nara, London, 2020, p. 6). In Only Faces Appear in My Mind, Nara succeeds in creating a dichotomy between the cuteness of the girl—as established by her little pig-tails and large, rounded head—and her devilish emotion, which Koon relates more with the adult experience (Ibid., p. 60). Further, as argued by Koon, Nara’s art is spontaneous and instinctual: “His focus lies in the formal construction of the figure, which can change based on instinct as he paints. He is unconcerned with what sort of character, whether rebellious, lonely, sweet, pathetic, or cheeky, will emerge, trusting that in the act of creating, it will develop its own personality organically” (Ibid., p. 53). Only Faces Appear in My Mind is a superlative example of this, with the medium of paper allowing for a heightened level of spontaneity and leading to the creation of a remarkable work that brims with personality.

The influence of music on Nara’s oeuvre is well documented, with curator Miwako Tezuka noting how from the mid-1970s, Nara and his practice mirrored his Punk sensibility. Not only demonstrating his infatuation with anti-commercial and anti-establishment bands and musicians from a young age by creating imaginary album art before later receiving commissions as an artist, Nara has since often infused his work with lyrical elements and imbued many of his iconic protagonists with a distinct rebellious demeanor. The attitude of Only Faces Appear in My Mind and the square shape of its paper surface recall these album covers that famously inspired him, with the phrase “ONLY FACES APPEAR IN MY MIND” scribbled in the figure’s rust-coloured hair appearing as if lyrics that demand to be sung.

Reflecting on his temperament as a child, the artist revealed: “Thinking about it now, it’s quite twisted, but I was a rebellious, adult-like child. The t.mes when I was depicting children in a lot of my works was probably a period when I was trying to regain something childlike. Well, I still do depict children, but the images that people generally associate with me are from that t.mes when I was trying to take back my childhood” (the artist quoted in Melissa Chiu, “A Conversation with the Artist”, in Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka (eds.), Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, New York, 2010, p. 172-173). Mixing acrylic with coloured pencil, with drips and smudges still visible on its surface, Only Faces Appear in My Mind is a fantastic representation of Nara’s ability to blur the traditional distinction between high art and popular culture, evoking the anti-establishment music that is a fundamental part of his artistic process.

Nara’s paper works and his drawings are crucial to his practice, with his drawings now housed in numerous international public collects ions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Indeed, Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka claim: “Drawing is an extremely important.mes dium for Nara, and he often reveals an emerging idea in its raw state as a preparatory sketch. But more importantly, he uses drawing to create a personal diary that he returns to constantly” (Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka (eds.), Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, New York, 2010, p. 185). Interestingly, a smaller sketch of the present work titled t.mes of My Life 2001 (1998-2001) presents what appears to be a preparatory drawing of Only Faces Appear in My Mind, although its specific date of execution is not known. In this smaller paperwork, Nara draws the rudimentary outline of the figure, writing “ONLY FACE APPEAR IN MY MIND”, a motif that the artist appears to have revisited on a larger scale and in more painterly detail in the present work.

Test.mes nt to the significance of the medium of paper in Nara’s artistic practice, a powerful vehicle for the artist’s expression and experimentation with different ideas and techniques, an entire hut-like structure was dedicated to his drawings in his first solo museum exhibition in Japan. I Don’t Mind, If You Forget.mes , exhibited in 2001 at the Yokohama Museum of Art, was a landmark show in which the artist marked his return from Germany the year before. As described by art critic Midori Matsui: “The installation [t.mes of My Life 2001] served as a symbol of the exhibition’s formal and spiritual aims, showcasing the spontaneity and indeterminacy of drawing that lie at the core of Nara’s imagination” (Midori Matsui, “Art for myself and others: Yoshitomo Nara’s popular imagination” in Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka (eds.), Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, New York, 2010, p. 19). Indeed, Matsui further commented: “Contributors to the exhibition catalogue emphasised the fragmented character of Nara’s work, and his ability to visualise the undifferentiated perception and fluid imagination of a child as fundamental characteristics of drawing. They suggested that Nara’s artistic merit resides in mhairaking what is often considered the secondary medium of drawing an important.mes ans of expression, by both exciting the viewer’s imagination and mediating the unconscious process of image formation” (Ibid., p. 20). Further, the aesthetic of Nara’s work is rooted in the illustrations and images of children’s books: “I think everyone misunderstands the influence of manga and anime on my work. Honestly, I have been more influenced by children’s books, especially ones that I read when I was little. I don’t dislike manga, but I’m not interested in it, and don’t watch anime at all… Picture books tell many stories with one picture, so this kind of system, narratives emerging from a single picture, has had a much stronger influence on my work, particularly my early work, I think” (the artist quoted in Melissa Chiu, “A Conversation with the Artist”, in Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka (eds.), Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, New York, 2010, p. 175).

Grinning naughtily with menacing triangular eyes, Nara’s heroine engages the viewer in a silent dialogue, who is at once struck by her vulnerable, cute features and intrigued by her headstrong countenance. Exuding an arresting vigor and vitality, Only Faces Appear in My Mind is a superlative paperwork to come to market, of the kind that is not often seen at auction. The work combines the spontaneity and dynamism of Nara’s paperworks with the luminosity and chromatic layering of his paintings, featuring his archetypal motif of a large headed little girl set against a monochrome background, in a manner that is arguably unmatched in its embodiment of his Neo Pop aesthetic and evocation of his Punk sensibility.

《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》是奈良美智獨一無二的紙本作品，創作於他從德國回日本的2000年，當時是藝術家的創作生涯中，其中一個最受藏家重視的時期。從巨大的畫幅和畫中人少有的雙辮造型來看，《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》作為首登拍場的作品，實屬難得一見。本作展現奈良的新普普美學，摒棄精緻藝術與流行文化之間的傳統分野，藝術家選用紙材創作，開拓出無可比擬的實驗和藝術表現空間，令他在運用視覺語言上有更大的自主和自由。與奈良其他繪畫淘氣小女孩的作品不同的是，他以英文將畫題「Only Faces Appear in My Mind」寫在女孩的頭髮上，這個耐人尋味的元素不單為畫作增添文本深度，還需要觀眾思考藝術家這樣做的意義。此外，《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》體現了滲透於奈良作品的龐克叛逆精神，他混合壓克力顏料和色鉛筆，斑駁的色彩和滴落的顏色增添作品的力量和獨特性。女孩的大頭佔據整個畫面，神情反叛，毫不顧忌旁人目光，以奈良的標誌三角眼堅定地直視觀眾。《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》具有相當重要的意義，曾於2001年村上隆在洛杉磯當代藝術博物館舉行的劃時代展覽「超扁平」中展出，展覽審視了日本當代藝術在國際舞台的定位，當時與本作同場展出的還有奈良的另一幅大型紙本作品《年輕母親》（2000年作）。

直至2000年，奈良美智的創作經歷了長足的發展，精益求精，建立了一系列風格鮮明的作品，淘氣小女孩成為他的標誌，就像《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》中束著兩條辮子的女孩。整個九十年代期間，藝術家開始消除背景多餘的元素，轉為以單色背景突出他的主題和人物情感。奈良於1988至2000年旅居德國，這段時間對他的藝術發展影響深遠，他發展出屬於「奈良女孩」的典型特徵，本作也一一展現出來，正如藝術史學家官綺雲所說：「她孩子般的表情與成年人的情感產生共鳴，她的可愛帶點黑色幽默，當中任何明確的文化指涉都與個人回憶交織在一起」（官綺雲撰，《奈良美智》，倫敦，2020年，頁6）。在《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》中，奈良借助小辮子和圓滾滾的大頭，塑造出小女孩身上可愛與邪惡並存的一體兩極性，官綺雲認為當中邪惡的情感與成人的經歷更加相關（同上，頁60）。另外，奈良的藝術是率性和近乎直覺的，官綺雲指出：「他關注的是建構人物的形式，形式可以在他畫畫時憑直覺而改變。不論是反叛、寂寞、甜美、可憐還是厚臉皮，他不關心人物會出現怎樣的性格，只相信在創作的過程中會自然發展出人物的個性」（同上，頁53）。《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》正是一個優秀的例子，紙本媒介讓他更能隨心發揮，造就這幅充滿個性的出色之作。

很多資料顯示，奈良美智的作品受音樂影響，策展人手塚美和子解釋，奈良的藝術創作從七十年代中期起已反映他對龐克音樂的敏感度。他的創作證明他年少時已對反商業、反建制的樂隊和音樂人十分癡迷，在成為藝術家接受委約創作前，已自行製作作品專輯。他自此經常在作品融合歌詞般的文字元素，為其筆下的主角加入別具一格的叛逆姿態。《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》的創作心態和方形畫幅，讓人想起啟發奈良的音樂專輯封面；潦草寫在女孩赤褐色頭髮的「ONLY FACES APPEAR IN MY MIND」，彷彿是想讓人唱起來的歌詞。藝術家省思自己童年的脾氣時剖白道：「現在回想起來也挺扭曲的，但我是個反叛老成的孩子。我大量以小孩入畫的那個時期，大概是想找回一點童稚。我現在仍然繪畫小孩，但大家一般會將我畫的小孩，想成是我還在尋找童年那個時期所繪畫的形象」（引述藝術家，招穎思撰，〈與藝術家對談〉，載於招穎思與手塚美和子編，《奈良美智：Nobody’s Fool》，紐約，2010年，頁172–173）。藝術家混合壓克力顏料和色鉛筆，顏料滴下和塗抹的痕跡仍清晰可見，《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》展現奈良將精緻藝術和流行文化的傳統分野變得模糊的過人能力，喚起對構成其創作基礎的反建制音樂的聯想。

奈良美智的紙本作品和素描對其創作十分重要，他的素描現藏於包括紐約現代藝術博物館等多所國際公共機構。誠如招穎思和手塚美和子所言：「素描是奈良極為重要的媒介，他經常在草圖中展示尚在原始狀態的新意念。然而更重要的是，他以素描為個人日誌，並不斷反覆參詳」（招穎思與手塚美和子編，《奈良美智：Nobody’s Fool》，紐約，2010年，頁185）。有趣的是，藝術家有一張名為《我生命的時光2001》（1998–2001年作）的小幅素描，雖然不知道確實的創作日期，但看起來就像是《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》的草圖。在這張較小的紙本作品中，人物只有基本輪廓，並以大寫英文字母寫上「ONLY FACE APPEAR IN MY MIND 」，在本作中，藝術家重返這個母題，放大女孩比例，繪畫了更多細節。

2001年，即從德國回國的一年後，奈良美智首次在日本的博物館舉行個展「我不介意你忘了我」。他在橫濱美術館內搭建了像小屋的結構，裡面展出他的素描，可見紙張這個作為他表達和實驗各種意念技巧的強大載體，對其藝術創作十分重要。藝評人松井碧曾形容：「裝置（《我生命的時光2001》）代表了是次展覽在形式和精神上的宗旨，展示了奈良想像力的核心正是其素描的率性和不確定性」（松井碧撰，〈為人為己的藝術：奈良美智的流行想像〉，載於招穎思與手塚美和子編，《奈良美智：Nobody’s Fool》，紐約，2010年，頁19）。松井續說：「展覽圖錄的撰稿人強調奈良的作品具有分裂的特點，以及他有能力將孩童那種無差別的感知和流暢的想像力，用作素描的基本特徵。他們認為奈良的藝術成就在於能透過激發觀眾想像，調和圖像出現的無意識過程，將素描這種普遍被認為較次要的媒介提升為重要的表達方式」（同上，頁20）。再者，奈良的創作美學扎根於兒童讀物的插畫和圖像：「我認為所有人都誤會了我的作品是受漫畫和動畫影響。事實上，兒童書刊對我的影響更大，特別是我小時候讀過的刊物。我不是不喜歡漫畫，但我就是沒有興趣，我也完全不看動畫……繪本中的一幅圖畫就能說故事，這種由單一圖畫生成的敘事手法和系統對我的作品影響大得多，尤其是我早年的作品」（引述藝術家，招穎思撰，〈與藝術家對談〉，載於招穎思與手塚美和子編，《奈良美智：Nobody’s Fool》，紐約，2010年，頁175）。

奈良筆下的女孩臉上掛著淘氣的笑容，三角眼透著一絲威嚇，與觀眾安靜地對望，令人們對女孩脆弱可愛的五官留下深刻的印象，同時也被她倔強的神情所吸引。《僅在我腦海中出現的臉孔》散發出強烈的情感和蓬勃的生氣，是拍場上難得一見的大師級紙本作品。奈良在本作中結合紙本作品的率性活力與繪畫的亮度和色層，並沿用將大頭女孩置於單色背景前的構圖，展現出藝術家在新普普美學和對龐克音樂的敏感度上，可謂別樹一幟。