This summer, I’m trying something a little different.
Every week, I’ll share one artwork by one artist that has stayed with me. Sometimes it made me laugh or feel something indescribable. Sometimes it challenged what I believed. Sometimes I simply couldn’t stop thinking about it.
These aren’t necessarily the “greatest” works of art. They’re the ones that sparked wonder for me.
I hope these stories help you discover a few artworks that stay with you, too.
Kimiko Nishimori
“I just want to do something funny,” Nishimoto told the Japan Times. “As far as I’m concerned, life is all about being playful. I look around my house and am always finding fun things to photograph.”
See
Google Kimiko Nishimoto, follow kimiko_nishimoto on Instagram and be prepared to be delighted. She took her first photography class at age 72 and, until her death at 97, was famous for her quirky and creative sense of humor in her self-portrait photography. The whimsical twist she brings daily turns our image of old age in its head.
Story
When I first learned about this artist I was thrilled to see an older person take on a new art form and have a lot of fun with it. She is inspiring and leaves me feeling that anything is really possible. Dig in, and don’t take yourself too seriously!
Say
What do you think of these photos? Often artwork resonates with us for different reasons. Nishimoto wanted to have fun and be playful.
- Is making art that is funny and playful valid in your opinion?
Do
Here’s the thing about creativity, there are no rules to it. It is only limited to how much you limit and restrict it to your expectations. If you embrace the playfulness and curiosity that goes along with creativity, you will grow your imagination to new possibilities. –Gregory Welch
- Think about what it’s not too late for you to try. Who do you want to be in your seventies, eighties, or nineties…?
- Take a self-portrait that might make someone smile. Then, have fun, and be playful!
- Read about Creativity and Healthy Aging.
About the Artist:
Kimiko Nishimoto was born in Brazil on May 28, 1928, died June 9, 2025 at 97 years old. Before becoming a photographer with over 400,000 followers on Instagram she was a hairdresser, track cyclist and homemaker.
Kikimo Nishimoto is a Japanese grandmother who, at age 72, fell in love with photography and has created and edited her images since then. While primarily focusing on still life and nature photography, she has a series of hilarious self-portraits. After discovering her passion, Nishimoto enrolled in a photography course for beginners that her son was teaching. She soon fell in love with photography and began her journey to shoot some bizarre and comic self-portraits. Nishimoto held her first exhibition ten years later in a local museum in her hometown of Kumamoto and is now exhibiting her work in the Epson Epsite gallery in Tokyo.
