Her Whimsical Sand Art Feeds Off An Endless Sense Of Childlike Wonder

The creator who goes only by nan mononym Naoshi is simply a maestro astatine spinning mini grains of soil into thing grand.

She specializes successful sunae, nan Japanese creation of making images retired of colored sand. In her tidy Alhambra location studio, she meticulously assembles out-of-this-world tableaux successful saturated, punchy hues.

Naoshi’s pieces usually halfway astir a chic ingenue sporting food-focused manner — deliberation bonnets made of bonbons and boba beverage skirts. One of her earliest characters, Ice Cream Girl, is simply a go-getter pinch a scoop for a head, inspired by a characteristic she drew arsenic a child. Another of her stars is simply a fierce fast-food warrior clad successful a cheeseburger skirt, wielding ketchup and mustard laser guns and flanked by a squad of fighters who hap to beryllium anthropomorphic pizza and basking dogs.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

In this series, we item independent makers and artists, from glassblowers to fibre artists, who are creating original products successful and astir Los Angeles.

But not each of nan artist’s useful person a gourmet bent — she besides creates celestial goddesses and nature-inspired divas, and made a bid devoted to nan Major Arcana of tarot. Her “It” girls often support institution pinch a coterie of mini monkeys, kittens aliases creatures pinch confections for heads. Their vibrant, jam-packed settings picture thing from an oceanic rave to a rainbow-hued large apical capacity to a joyride done nan cosmos. And nary matter nan motif, she ever makes judge her subjects are “playful, saccharine and dreamy.”

“When I was a child, I had nan acquisition of making sunae utilizing a kit,” she recalled during a caller interview. “That representation stayed pinch maine very strongly.”

Harnessing that nostalgia, she started creating and trading mini DIY sunae kits of her ain creation successful 2004.

Food-focused characters predominate Naoshi’s work, including image books and soil creation kits.

“I began making [them] pinch nan dream that they could go a nosy and memorable acquisition for personification other arsenic well,” she said of nan kits, which scope from easy to challenging, accommodating budding artists of immoderate property and accomplishment set.

But whipping up 1 of her full-scale smorgasbords of radiated donuts, popcorn and nigiri for a assemblage show isn’t specified child’s play. The method involves attaching an original sketch to an adhesive backing, cutting it out, strategically sprinkling soil connected nan desired areas, past removing immoderate misplaced grains 1 by one. Each portion takes her anyplace from a fewer days to a fewer weeks.

Originally from Japan (Yokohama by measurement of Iwate), Naoshi first visited Southern California successful 2010, erstwhile she participated successful a Sanrio day accumulation successful Santa Monica. There, she displayed her activity and held a soil creation workshop.

“It was specified a really inspiring experience, I began to consciousness that I wanted to situation myself arsenic an creator successful Los Angeles,” she said. “It’s ever truthful sunny and nan nutrient is truthful good! In Japan, a batch of group deterioration achromatic and white, but successful L.A. everything’s truthful colorful. I get inspiration each nan time.”

Since taking nan leap to surviving successful nan L.A. area successful 2014, she has exhibited her activity astatine Gallery Nucleus, Corey Helford Gallery and La Luz de Jesus Gallery, to sanction a few. She has besides conducted workshops and sold merchandise — from creation prints to T-shirts to washi portion — astatine specified spots arsenic Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, Popkiller and Pygmy Hippo Shoppe.

Jars of colorful soil and saccharine artwork fills Naoshi’s studio.

Establishing herself successful a caller state was not without its challenges. “The civilization is wholly different,” she explained. “I felt accent each day.”

Early obstacles included overcoming nan connection barrier, arsenic good arsenic learning really to navigate nan city’s vastness, really to unfastened a slope account, and wherever to find markets and restaurants wherever she could bargain her favourite Japanese delicacies.

“I yet started to bask nan enactment of challenging myself,” she said of her modulation phase. These days, she high-fives herself for successfully filing business taxes connected her ain and she has go a regular astatine Katsu-Jin, a Tonkatsu spot successful South Pasadena.

Last year, Naoshi released “The ABC of Sunae,” a mini-encyclopedia of sorts that traces nan world origins of soil creation successful its various forms, including nan ceremonial soil paintings of nan Navajo successful nan American Southwest and nan belief soil mandalas of Tibetan Buddhists. She besides takes readers down nan scenes of her attack to nan craft, showing disconnected her preferred devices and providing step-by-step photos of nan process.

“The biggest situation of moving pinch soil is that there’s nary room for mistakes,” she said while sitting astatine a worktable stocked pinch dozens of mini sand-filled solid jars, each arranged by color. “Once nan soil sticks, it’s almost intolerable to make corrections. So if there’s moreover a mini portion I’m not satisfied with, I person to commencement complete from nan very first step.”

The intricate quality of sunae intends that if Naoshi makes a mistake, she has to commencement each over.

A stark achromatic workspace filled pinch earthy light, her trusty trade knife, a dependable manus and a keen brace of eyes are each basal for keeping her girls’ cheeks rosy and for making their backdrops sparkle. And she maintains sanity by moving to a soundtrack of her favourite Japanese popular songs and nan bouncing thumps of Basement Jaxx.

“Sand whitethorn beryllium nan other of an businesslike aliases convenient material,” she said, “but its soft texture and nan clip I walk profoundly focusing connected nan process feels almost meditative to me.”