the art of ORR MARSHALL

“The boy I really reeeally like, I hope I’ll like him even more and more and more and we’ll have a heart-throbbing love!!!”: Signed again with a fictitious name, “Momoyama Machiko,” approximately reversing the name on the plaque above. The family name is taken from the Momoyama Period, 1568–1600. Machiko is another common girl’s name. On a plaque underneath this one are visible the name of the artist’s wife, Fukiko, and the lower right corner of her restaurant logo, TOMO. Below that, their daughter-in-law’s name, Ogawa Akiko. Three nicknames written vertically. From right to left, Mineko-chan, Maki-chan, Mori-chan, artists whose full names appear on signs above the street at right: Minekawa Takako (see this note), Nomiya Maki (see this note), and Mori Mariko (see this note). Bai-bai (from English “bye-bye”) on the left hand, Ja ne bai (the equivalent in gyaru-slang) at the fingertips. Yabai on the right hand, an exclamation of surprise and dismay something like English “Oh-oh!”, and at the fingertips Chō maji yaba (gyaru-slang equivalent). A shirt of the artist’s wife Fukiko which was covered with this pattern of hiragana calligraphy. Three posters in anime (Japanese animation) style, inscribed (in top to bottom order): Bo! (a surprised noise); Kyaaaaaaa! (a scream); Ureshii ♪ (“I'm so happy!”).
Graffiti below the bottom poster: Rori-kon vs. Bodi-kon. Rori-kon is an abbreviation of “Lolita-complex,” a fashion for dressing like (rather Victorian) little girls. There are varieties of Rori-kon such as “Elegant Gothic Lolita” — i.e., all black. Bodi-kon means “body-consciousness,” a tight clothing style exposing areas of bare flesh. Okane no ko da, okane no ko da, okane no ko da: “She’s a rich girl, she’s a rich girl, she’s a rich girl!” “I want to be a singer when I grow up”: A girl’s wish written on a votive plaque or ema (see this note) seen by the artist on a path to Kasuga Jinja, the great shrine at Nara, ancient capital of Japan. It is signed with an invented name for the imaginary blonde girl depicted here: “Muromachi Momoko”. The family name is taken from the Muromachi Period, 1333–1568. Momoko is an ordinary girl’s name derived from the word momo, “peach”. (In Japanese the family name comes first.) Rabu dotto komu: “Love dot com” written phonetically over the dog’s eye.