Cranbrook Arts Gallery

“A Child of Nintendo”

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This series of paintings captures the experiences of childhood during the 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the joy of playing Nintendo video games.

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These memories are intentionally loose and suggestive, meant to highlight how personal perspectives have evolved with the passage of time.

 

To gain a deeper understanding of our present selves, it’s essential to revisit the foundational experiences of our formative years—those that were both immersive and enduring.

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Nintendo video games fit this description perfectly; they introduced a new way to play from the comfort of home—innocent yet challenging and interactive. These games offered a novel approach to storytelling, featuring expansive landscapes and exaggerated characters whose adventures mirrored the fables found in books or passed down through the stories of elders, all visually brought to life like cinematic experiences. 

 

It was a multi-sensory journey, where the sights and sounds responded to the tactile engagement of the controller, leaving an imprint on our consciousness and altering our perception of the world.