清水裕子(Yuko Shimizu)，來自東京，繼職場打拼十一年後，勇敢裸辭，傾盡積蓄，隻身漂紐約，攻讀插畫碩士，2003年畢業後始自由創作，至今為《TIME》《NY TIMES》《NEW YORKER》《GQ》等知名雜誌作畫，在Facebook上擁有近30萬粉絲。
「我很小時候就開始畫畫，不過畫了很多年才真的成為一個插畫師。」清水裕子如是說，「年輕時我不太確定自己到底想要什麼，加之父母總怕我因愛畫畫而過上顛沛不定的生活，所以我大學時就沒有讀藝術，而是進入了商學院，選了市場營銷和廣告——在我看來，它算是商學院裡最具創意的一科了。」
「I have been drawing ever since I was a small child, but it took a long time becoming one.
Because my parents were afraid of my pursuing a unstable and unpredictable path in art, and because I was young and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, I ended up going to a regular university in business major. I studied advertising and marketing there, because I thought they were the most creative of a practical field. 」
大學畢業後，清水裕子進入東京一家大型企業做公關，一做就是十一年。但不喜「辦公室政治」的她，開始猶豫該不該繼續。
「我並不討厭工作，也拼了命的想要融入『辦公室』這個小社會，但當我快到三十歲的時候，我開始認真思考未來的歲月還要不要繼續這樣下去，清水裕子回憶道，「想了很久，最終答案是『NO』。」
「I didn’t hate the work, it was actually interesting. But being in office environment, especially complicated and unnecessary office politics was not for me. I struggled a lot with that. Around when I hit age 30, I started to seriously think of future to see if I can see myself working there for years to come. The answer was no. 」
每一次看日本插畫師清水裕子(YUKO SHIMIZU)的作品，我總覺得進入了一個光怪陸離的世界：巨大的嬰孩侵佔世界，被裝入漂流瓶的女孩緊緊抱住電視，人成了鳥兒的籠中之寵，鋼鐵鑄成的血紅猩猩流著澄藍的眼淚……儘管怪誕，卻又十分熟悉，背景常見摩天大廈，人物也著西裝革履，高科技產物更成了畫中與妖作伴的玩具——原來荒誕的一切，都不過是都市裡的一隅，而現實本就是一本黑色童話。
「我很難解釋自己畫了什麼，因為那是屬於我自己的一部分；我也很難解釋我究竟是誰，因為那是我全部生活經歷結合起來的結果——人總是很難客觀地看待自己。」當問到她作畫的元素和風格時，她這樣解釋，「人們常常會說我的插畫融合了傳統日本藝術和當代歐美藝術——我覺得不無道理——當西方人看我的作品，他們會覺得它十分日本，而當日本人看完後會覺得十分外來貨。」
「It is really difficult to explain what I do on my end, because it is just a part of who I am, and it is really hard to explain who I am, because it is the person I have lived with all my life. You don’t really have the third party perspective of yourself, if you know what I mean.
People tend to say it is a mix of traditionally Japanese and contemporary American/Western. So, I guess that’s what it is. When Westerners see my work they say they are very Japanese. When Japanese people see them they think it is very 『gaijin』. That’s also who I am too, so it does makes sense. 」
而當問起畫作的靈感來源時，清水裕子認為插畫並非魔法，雖然有靈感支撐，但也需做大量的資料搜索，方可了解需要畫的主題，隨後才能想到更好的點子，「從事一份大部分內容都是創作的工作，你需要大量的充實自己才能完成更好的作品。我十分珍惜那些花在獲取其他資訊上的時間，我要抓緊時間了解一些與插畫並沒有直接關聯的事情，或是一些與我創作主體無關的東西。所以有時逃避現實是生活中非常必要的一部分。」對於此，清水裕子選擇了閱讀和旅行。
「In the occupation where a lot of what we do is creative output, it is very important to have good input to get good output. I value the time taking in information that is not directly associated with illustration, or subjects I am illustrating. Thus, escape from reality becomes crucial in everyday life. 」
「每天，當我坐地鐵穿梭於家與工作室之間時，我便閱讀，但路程很短，所以閱讀時間很短，但起碼我真的每天都在堅持——它怎麼也好過雙眼對住手機來消磨時間。我也嘗試閱讀一些對我來說是異國的東西，例如我現在在讀一個關於奧斯曼帝國的故事。我接下來準備讀的書裡有一本伊朗的流行小說，還有一本歷史小說，故事發生在多明尼加共和國。閱讀是很好的消遣，但它也同時是一條帶我通往未知的一切的通道。我很難預料到我會從那些還未讀的書中收穫什麼。但我知道它們會令我更智慧，尤其是在對異域文化與歷史的理解與解讀方面。」
「Every day basis, on the subway commute between home and studio, I read a book. My commute is very short, so I don’t get a lot of reading done, but at least, I read daily. It is a better way to kill time than meaninglessly staring at my phone. I also try to read more books on things that are foreign to me. For example, I am reading a novel about Ottoman Empire now. The next ones on my ’to read』 pile are a popular novel from Iran as well as a historic fiction that takes place in Dominican Republic. Reading is a good pastime, but it can also be a doorway into unknown. I don’t know what to expect from those books yet to be read. But what I know is that when I am done I will be a bit wiser, in terms of knowledge and understanding of cultures and histories that are foreign to me. 」
談及旅行，清水裕子表示目前的行程多數不由自己設定，因大多同工作有關，但得空的話，一定要親自安排她的假日之旅。
而在日常工作中，清水裕子堅持早睡早起，健康生活：「很多人覺得，自由職業者都是夜貓子，但我並非那樣。我每天早上六點半起床，然後在做一些家務，然後十點前到工作室，之後便工作很久，直到夜晚八九點，但我並不會通宵工作，通常晚上一到固定的時間我就會收拾東西回家了。集中力和創意源於健康的生活，所以我把睡眠當作一件非常重要的事情——我嘗試最晚不超過十二點上床。」
「There is an idea that we, creative freelancers, are night owls and we work in the middle of the night, but I am not like that. I wake up by 6:30AM-ish, and do house stuff for a few hours, then come to the studio by 10AM or so. I do work long hours though. I often work till 8 or 9PM, if not later. But I don’t ever do all-nighters. At some point in the evening/night, I wrap it up and go home. Focus and creativity stems from healthy living, so I take sleep seriously. I try and go to bed by midnight at the latest, and get enough sleep.」
最後，當問及對於香港藝術家的認識時，清水裕子提到了王家衛和杜可風；而問及她心目中的型女時，她如是說：「翁山蘇姬一直是我非常非常敬仰的女性。」
「Aung San Suu Kyi has always been a woman I really really look up to.」
本文為橙新聞原創稿件。轉載請註明出處並附上橙新聞二維碼。
（圖片來源：http://yukoart.com/）
公眾號後臺回復【年輕】
看《香港年輕一代是井底之蛙？》
回復【24】
看《24萬/㎡的香港「豪宅」什麼樣？看完這篇你幸福指數爆表》
回復【股災】
看《股災中最「堅挺」的股票：「啪啪啪」股》
回復【藥房】
看《看完這篇你再也不會被香港黑藥房騙了》
回復【高興】
看《內地人不來了，香港真的高興嗎？》
回復【差異】
看《15張圖秒懂香港人與內地人的差異……（最後亮了！）》
回復【窮人】
看《在香港做窮人不如在大陸做窮人》