Grotesque Appropriations: The Unsettling Nudes In Eimi Suzuki's Works

Strangeness And Discomfort

One of the most interesting characteristics of the grotesque is how it manages to create a feeling of strangeness and discomfort in the audience by mixing heterogeneous elements in works that draw attention for their ability to create metamorphosed beings in the most diverse forms. The Japanese artist Eimi Suzuki, born in 1993, graduated from Bunka University, Jewelry Metal Works, Class of 2016, stands out for her work that gathers sources from different origins through collages, assemblages, and paintings.

Fig.1. Eimi Suzuki

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Opposite States

In her works, Eimi Suzuki makes use of the appropriation of renowned paintings in Western culture, which she subverts, creating images that capture the audience's attention by being both comical and dramatic. This blend of opposite states can be considered one of the consequences for artists working with the grotesque, as it allows for breaking the notion of identity precisely because it is heterogeneous, resulting in a critical look at the universe of art and its conventions. Just like the first grotesque works created during the Renaissance, inspired by the ancient frescoes found in the remains of the Domus Aurea in Rome, Nero's imperial palace (54-68 AD), the images created by Eimi Suzuki present bodies fused with plants and animals, open and branched, so that the anatomy of the human body is transgressed in favor of sometimes labyrinthine and unusual structures.

Fig.4. "The Virgin and Child" (2018)

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Fig.6. The Birth of Venus by Eimi Suzuki

Appropriation And Reinterpretation

Thus, we contemplate The Birth of Venus (1875) by Alexandre Cabanel reinterpreted by Eimi Suzuki, at the moment when the goddess emerges with her belly torn by scalpels and her child being pulled from it by cupids (Fig. ). In another work, Leda and the Swan by Paul Véronèse, the artist depicts the swan mutilating Leda's face. In this way, the nude appears in Eimi Suzuki's work almost always from mutilated bodies, not only exposing their interior but, through anatomical details, representing human beings contained within them, composing morbid scenes as if they were strangely decorated rooms. 

Fig.7. "Leda and the Swan" (2017)

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Fig.9. "Two of Swords" (2023)

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In Premium more on Eimi's style and aesthetics, her use of the grotesque in the decoration of her chairs and jewelry, the use of sex in her work, 71 additional images and much more....

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