Elephants are cute. As are kittens. Both have some grounding in Japan (one for the artist, the other because Neko's are everywhere).
So our elephant friend here is cute because of multiple things. The first being the direct size contrasting between the two sculptures. The one of the left is admirably cute given his oversized physique, but he is simply a tool used to then draw us to the smaller version, which when compared to the big guy is EVEN cuter. Its like a mother/son elephant thing where size is directly porportional the amount of cuteness. The color pallete chosen as well heightens this because they are such friendly, pastely (easter eggish) colors that can do no wrong. The size of the smaller elephant is also supposed to give a sense that it is probably a baby or small child. Even though the sculpture is probably pretty big compared to a human, I feel like it is screaming to be picked up or embraced. That is why I think there is such a direct, parallel porportional comparison going on between the two statues. Oh boy do I love elephants.
But, I love cats even more. Check this guy out. This photograph was designed (and probably photoshopped heavily) to instill all the virtues of cute within this kitten. It has been personified to such a degree that it looks like it wants you to give it a human hug (or at least pick it up like a baby). In fact, the cat looks very much like a baby that is simply grappling for your attention. The cat is also very clean and fuzzy, instilling many pleasurable aesthetics to force us to love it. In addition, we really cannot see claws or anything else threatening about the image (teeth, hair standing on end, etc..) so it portrays itself as a fuzzy stuffed-animalish creature. This is the cuteness from the images above being displayed as an actual living thing, rather than a lifeless sculpture that only looks inviting.
Have I said the word cuteness enough? No? CUTENESS. (It's almost sickening)
