Yoshitomo Nara
Yoshitomo Nara’s exhibition at the Hayward Gallery is my favourite show of 2025 .I heard about Nara's international tour a long time ago. I almost went to Japan to see. I'm glad he came to London and even has shows in my favorite gallery in London. I took probably 100 photos and spent the entire afternoon.
Walking into the exhibition felt like entering Nara’s world. A large toy-like wooden house stood in the centre of the hall, surrounded by a wall filled with his vinyl records which are the music he listens to while working. I could have stayed in that little house forever; it felt like a place where I could sit and draw until the end of the world.
What amazed me most was how he transforms ordinary materials, like old newspapers, letter holders, and unfolded cardboard boxes, into poetic drawings. These worn surfaces carry time within them, and his gentle, childlike painting style brings out their quiet beauty. The fragility of paper and the sincerity of his lines seem to breathe together.
I finally understood why Nara has so many fans around the world. The children he paints carry every emotion we share. It could be anger, curiosity, sadness, tenderness or something else. Everyone once had that small rebellious heart when they were young; most people just learn to hide it. Nara’s paintings uncover that hidden self with great honesty.
Eyes he drawed are so pretty. The silence in his colors, the stillness in those characters' faces—everything unspoken but deeply felt. And in that quietness, you feel seen, as if your own childhood is looking back at you.
Hayward Gallery
Charleston
Lewes
Charleston House was once the home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, members of the Bloomsbury Group, artists, writers, and thinkers who reshaped modern British culture through art and friendship. My tutor Anna recommended me to see and I’m so glad I did. The house is in Lewes, a beautiful and peaceful town surrounded by soft hills and fields.
I first walked into the garden. It was delicate and full of lives — flowers, fruit trees, and small hidden sculptures quietly placed between leaves. Each one felt as if it had always belonged there, blending perfectly with the landscape. The garden itself felt like a painting in three dimensions, full of rhythm and intimacy. Stepping into the house was like entering another world. Every wall, door, and piece of furniture was covered with hand-painted patterns. The colours spoke softly to one another; curtains echoing the tones of a chair, a plate matching the frame beside it. There were so many details that I wished I had ten pairs of eyes to take them all in. As I walked through the rooms, the old wooden floor made a gentle “yaya” sound under my feet, and for a moment I felt as though I had travelled back in time, travelling into their daily lives, their conversations, their quiet afternoons of painting.
If I ever have my own house, I think I would want to paint and decorate it just like Charleston. It’s not only a house, but a living artwork. A home can be filled with warmth, creativity, and the traces of a shared life just like the art I’m creating. Haha, There’s truly no other place in the world quite like it. It is such a lovely house museum and the beers in Lewes are so good. I definitely want to visit Lewes again.
