I recently got really into those colorful flowers by Takashi Murakami, the ones that look like they’re always smiling. They’re everywhere, and I started wondering, what’s the deal with these happy-looking flowers?
So, I did what any curious person would do—I started digging around. I looked up some stuff about Murakami and his art. It turns out these flowers are a big part of his work. He calls them “Murakami flowers,” and they’re supposed to represent harmony and happiness. They are full of joy, right? I read that the name of his whole art thing, “Kaikai Kiki,” means something like “powerful and sensitive.” These flowers sure are powerful, popping up all over the place in his art.
Made some art inspired by Murakami flower
After I spent a whole afternoon going down this rabbit hole, I felt inspired. I grabbed some paints and paper and started making my own version of these flowers. I wanted to see if I could capture that same kind of happy vibe. I painted them all side by side, all bright and colorful. It was pretty cool to see them all together, almost like they formed a little world of their own.
I also tried something different—I made one single flower. It was interesting to think about what just one of these flowers could mean. I found this one thing online that said a single flower could be about growth, or even decay, or purity. It’s all about how you look at it, I guess. But that got me thinking, maybe if the flower has too much meaning it loses its original simple message, just “harmony” and “happiness”.
Anyway, this whole thing got me thinking about how art can mean different things to different people. And how something as simple as a colorful, smiling flower can actually have a lot of layers to it. And here’s a little fun fact I found: a rainbow, with all its colors, can stand for love. So, maybe these flowers are also a bit about love, in all sorts of ways.
This whole experience was really fun. It started with just seeing these flowers everywhere and ended up with me making my own art and thinking a lot more about what art can mean. I encourage you to try to make one if you’re a fan of Murakami flower too!
