Imura Art Gallery Kyoto is pleased to announce the opening of Yukari Momoda's solo exhibition, "Boku, Kumo (I, the clouds)."

Momoda recreates moments that left a deep impression in her or imagery landscapes that are created in her mind and expresses them using vivid tints of colors that are so unique that they almost appear "artificial."  Her works relentlessly stimulates people's power of imagination, so much so that the audience would feel like they are looking at the floating clouds in the sky. 

Vivid colors and lines, suppressed differences in brightness, even and smooth gradation, and layers of ink that are deliberately painted so thick in some places. Momoda depicts her images differently for each work to create more synthetic and collaged images.

Momoda creates her work with bottomless spirit of inquiry and crystal clear eyes of her mind.This is Momoda's first sole exhibition at Imura Art Gallery.Whether it is a portrait or an imagery landscape, each time she creates, Momoda reveals her new development. We hope that you can come and enjoy her new works at this exhibition.

Ryuta Imafuku quoted Walter Benjamin (20th century Germany philosopher) in his book, "To a different place - to the corridor of images (Kokodewanai basho - Image no kairo e)" and said, " Walter Benjamin once said, 'Tints are the home grounds for clouds.' Children are full of whimsical spirits, and their mind can travel through the world of unlimited fantasies created by their intuitions just by looking at the clouds in the sky. Benjamin found this process analogous to how people gain the power of imagination through the use of different colors. "

Inspired by Imafuku's words, I began to use the image of "colors = clouds" in my art works. And, I decided to choose it as the theme of this exhibition.Through the long history of civilization and culture, humans have created "art."

I feel that "art" is a reflection of artists' life, intense feelings, and the endless amount of time they spent for their creations. When looking at others' art works, at times, I can feel the innate nature of the artist through his or her work.

Through these experiences, I realized that what attracts me is the "artificial object (origin of creation)" created by the artist, which transcends the boundary of "paintings."  Currently, I am quite interested in the fact that an "artificial object" that has no life can attract people and impress them greatly. Wishing to knead such "artificial portion" into my paintings, I began to use vivid colors that do not exist in the natural world. It is my objective view, but I feel that artificial objects give us a feeling that time has stopped from clicking, cutting us off from the reality. Therefore, I continue to create my art work in order to record timeless space on canvas.
- Yukari momoda

*image (left)
courtesy of the artist and Imura Art Gallery