I’ve always had a deep fascination with the themes of childhood, the shattering of innocence, growing up, and even death. When I was younger, it was hard for me to name or even shape my thoughts about any of these concepts, but I knew one thing very clearly back then—that I enjoyed seeing art that tackled these very subjects.
It came to me as a surprise when I discovered Studio Ghibli and their films. What was amazing about their work was that everything I ever wanted to express had already been done in these films and in the most beautiful ways. And even more surprising than that was I did not feel the slightest bit of disappointment or sadness that someone had managed to do, long before I was born (in the ’70s, to be precise), something I always wanted to do.
