Delving back into Junji Ito’s work for this next rug, probably one of his most iconic images: Azami from Uzumaki. So… death spirals. Doesn’t sound that scary, right? Boy was I wrong.
I bought Uzumaki for my husband when we were dating (per his ask on his birthday.) Of course having no other outlet to hold proper discussions he told me all about it and showed me sample panels. Suffice to say, I didn’t need any further examples to have a lasting impact. The first time I saw Azami it felt like a mild trypophobia reaction had been triggered where you just feel uncomfortable and creeped out. Definitely not my cup of tea but I could see how horror fans would be drawn to Uzumaki’s imagery.
The design for this rug technically came from the anime (which definitely helped simplify some of the details.) One thing I will say about Ito is the detail he puts in really magnifies the creepiness. Even though I had to simplify I think it turned out true to the original material.
Per my husband’s excellent advice, this is a bigger rug to work in some of the detail like the veins in her eyes. I really liked working on a larger canvas – it seems 3ft is a sweet spot.
Hopefully this will make an Ito fan’s house a bit more unsettling 😀