DAY 2417 - REVIEW - Space Battles Series 2 #8

Artwork by Motohiro Hayakawa

Review by John Coulter

Japanese artist Motohiro Hayakawa creates hypnotizing paintings of far-flung space creatures in battle.  As if opening a time capsule, the images seem frozen in time.  Drawing inspiration from the styles of Transformers, He-Man, and Space Sheriff the paintings are sure to inspire nostalgia in many.

They have the charm of school age drawings taken to an extreme.  The often white backgrounds remind one of drawing on notebook paper as a kid.  The scenes have the harsh color palette of retro arcade games and 16 bit processors.  Precision line work and masterful combinations of fluorescent colors bring the otherworldly beings to life. 

Hayakawa’s work’s feature faceless creatures on stilts visiting a zoo, brutish, bipedal crustaceans guarding their eggs with laser guns, and tiger robots battling dinosaurs in a foggy castle.  His robots, monsters, and humanoids are unique.  In a storm of testosterone, muscular parts are connected to clunky machines and weaponry.  Often engaged in an unknown conflict, the figures occupy a intriguingly ambiguous world.  One must wonder what is going on in this alternate universe.

Hayakawa’s paintings embrace the loud and the kitsch, similar to Álvaro Izquierdo’s or Kristen Liu-Wong’s work.  Utilizing imagery usually reserved for action figure packaging and VHS cartridges, Hayakawa’s painted beasts find refuge in the fine art world.

If you’re a fan of the magazine Heavy Metal or Saturday morning cartoons give Hayakawa’s work some love and head on over to his website.