“Calabash Boys 葫芦娃” of The Deconstruction of My Memories by Nod Young

Nod Young is a Beijing-based graphic designer and illustrator who has worked with a client list that includes Nike, Adidas, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Nokia, Microsoft, Mercedes, FIAT, and Greenpeace. His work transcends commercial advertisement and incorporates his personal experiences. His inspiration comes from music, literature and even religion. These themes are incorporated in his works The Poem of Heart and Journey to the West. I chose Nod Young’s Deconstruction of My Memories. It is a three-piece series that depicts three different animations that Young remembers were part of his childhood. The one piece that caught my attention was the one titled Calabash Boys. This piece I had to do some research on. It turns out, Calabash Boys was an animated Chinese show produced in the 1980’s. The premise of the show involved seven young boys who have powers to fight evil forces. This image is the a representation of the youngest brother who has no powers except for a magical gourd that is the central image in the piece. It is interesting that that this particular character was  chosen and this is why I believe it represents an Alternative Self Portrait. The most prominent feature in the piece is the color used. Young uses an analogous color scheme in his piece and chooses to make them solid colors. The inspiration for the colors used comes from the out fit of the youngest brother character. There is a sort of balance that appears in how the objects are arranged within the frame. Not only does there seem to be balance in the piece, there also seems to be balancing occurring as well. In a sense this balancing that is occurring gives a feeling of motion in the picture with the angle of the images and the way in which they fit within each other.