Welcome to the new Obake Style. For those of you just joining us, we’re a husband and wife art team that makes cute and spooky art in lots of different mediums. We like to explore. For those of you who followed us here from Paper Wasp, what can I say? We like to explore. To everyone reading this blog post, thanks for taking the time to learn about our brand!
Some of you may be asking, “What’s an Obake Style?” Allow me to elucidate.
Obake – [oh-bah-kay], Japanese, noun – lit. “changing thing”, diminutive form of bakemono, traditionally applied to any variety of shape-shifting monster.
Style – [stahyl], noun – a distinct manner of expression or appearance.
We believe this concept really encapsulates what we’re all about. We like the duality found in the superficial image of changing monsters and the deeper idea of a hidden reality beneath the surface. And it’s Japanese. We’re heavily influenced by Japanese art and culture.
So why did we change brands? First, Paper Wasp felt too small for the larger concepts we’ve been working on recently. It didn’t feel right calling ourselves Paper Wasp if we’re making fewer paper prints. Second, we’ve had some humorous misunderstandings with the name and logo. “Is it Paper… Wrap? Raper Wasp?” We talked it over and decided a new brand would help steer us, and our audience, in the right direction.
We hope you’ll follow our blog as we discuss the new, the old, and the generally weird.