Felines Evoke ‘A Floating World’ in Tùng Nâm’s Whimsical Illustrations

Accompanied by delicate insects and social betta fish, the cats in Tùng Nâm’s illustrations (previously) alternate between curiosity, serenity, friskiness, and determination. The artist portrays a diversity of feline natures, merging their likenesses with flowers, waves, foliage, and clouds.

Nâm’s characters are playfully anthropomorphized, donning patterned kimonos and hair ornaments. The series emerged organically from practice sketches of flowers in the ukiyo-e style.

an illustration of a brown-and-white cat wearing a kimono and standing among a pink flowering plant with a dragonfly hovering nearby

“I felt like it was missing something, so I tried to add a cat as the protagonist,” Nâm tells Colossal. “Somehow it still doesn’t feel right, so I think of adding a companion—fishes, butterfly, dragonfly—like they were encountering each other in a specific moment.” Fittingly, he called the series An encounter.

An accompanying collection, A Floating World, takes further inspiration from the genre, directly referencing the Japanese word ukiyo. The term describes a hedonistic lifestyle in Edo—now called Tokyo—in the 1600s, spawning a style of art that captured the mood and interests of the period. Famed artists like Hokusai or Hiroshige focused on woodblock printing and painting to represent scenes from history, folk tales, kabuki actors, flora and fauna, landscapes, and more.

For Nâm, ukiyo-e provides the starting point for exploring a range of subject matter. He’s currently exploring ideas for further illustrations that incorporate different animals and visual cultures.

Find more on the artist’s Behance and Instagram.

an illustration of a hairless cat peering backward at the viewer and wearing a kimono among a group of flowers with a blue-and-white butterfly on its back

an illustration of a black-and-white cat wearing a blue kimono and standing next to a white flowering plant, against a green background, as a large goldfish hovers nearby

an illustration of a black cat wearing a kimono and looking directly at the viewer from behind a white flower, with a monarch butterfly flying nearby

an illustration of a Siamese cat wearing a kimono and holding a green fan, looking at a dragonfly that is perched on a purple flowering plant

an illustration of a brown-and-white cat wearing a patterned kimono, standing against a teal background and holding a vase with red coral in it, around which a group of fish swim

an illustration of a white cat among green foliage and white flowers, with a small fish floating by its head

an illustration of a black cat wearing a kimono and a hair ornament, standing beside a hydrangea with a black-and-yellow butterfly perched on it

an illustration of a white cat wearing a patterned kimono, with purple flowers in front of it and a couple of small betta fish nearby

an illustration of a calico cat with a bee on its nose, standing under a flowering squash plant

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