Painting of ‘The Little Ambassador’ by Yoshimoto Nara
At first glance The Little Ambassador, by Yoshimoto Nara, is fairly simple. A wide-eyed, little girl is holding the stem of a flower and glaring at someone furiously. She is clad in a pale green dress with no shoes, a short brown bob frames her large face and emerald green eyes overflow with emotion. The background is bare, void except for the young girl. While the picture can be simply interpreted as an angry child, I received a much deeper meaning than that. The artist’s choice of color is very important. Through deliberate color selection, titling and placement, The Little Ambassador depicts a child dealing with adult emotions.
Green to most Americans has many meanings; it symbolizes nature, greed, money, jealousy and harmony. Many hospitals and psychiatric wards are painted in green, doctors’ scrubs are often green, and these are intended to bring out a sense of calm and peace. The use of pale green for the child’s dress reminds me of a psychiatric ward and of doctors. It causes me to think her state of mind is not what it should be. It’s almost as if she is dressed as a patient, a simple loose-fitting dress and no shoes. In Japan, green symbolizes youth and energy and the future. Its as if the artist is conveying her feelings regarding the future of our society as a whole. Today’s children will one day be in control and our future is going to be full of hate and jealousy.
The title “Little Ambassador” enforces the idea of the future being in the hands of our children. The term ambassador means an authorized messenger or representative; an unofficial representative: ambassadors of goodwill, (www.dictionary.com). While the definitions are slightly conflicting they mean basically the same thing a messenger and this little girl is brining a message of what is to come. A civilization that is full of hate and disgust. These children are going to grow up into adults who cannot handle their emotions, lashing out and becoming violent, throwing tantrums as a child would, only on a much more dangerous scale. They will be united in their hate and utterly alone unable to truly connect to each other.
The background of this painting is completely empty; there are no playgrounds, no clouds, not even grass, we don’t know if we are inside or out. The lack of distraction forces the viewer to inspect the details of the child. The lack of ribbons or bows in her hair adds to the over all mixture of child and adult qualities she demonstrates. The ambassador’s eyes are an emerald green and are quite large staring off to her left with a vehemence not normally seen in a child. The contrast of the bright green chosen for the eyes versus the paleness of the dress serves to draw even more attention to the emotion displayed in the eyes. Her mouth is drawn into a tight bright angry line, no pouting as would be expected from a little girl, but a tight line. No matter where one looks there is something significant about the figure.
Looking at this painting has been like looking at reflected images on shattered glass. I start to see one meaning and then I move slightly and the work takes on a whole new meaning. I could draw interpretations on this painting for hours. Despite all the meanings and emotions I can draw from this, one remains clear to me: this is more than just an upset little girl.
