This is Kasai's first solo exhibition at the gallery in two and a half years, showcasing works in a range of different sizes. We hope you take this chance to view these new works, filled with a remarkable intensity and sense of exhilaration.

Maiko Kasai incorporates narratives of her own devising into landscapes that we encounter every day, hinting at the necessary training and practice required to exist in those imaginary worlds, as well as the aspects of those narratives that are ordinarily suppressed by society. Her paintings, distinguished by bold compositions that make deft use of blank space and powerful, dynamic brushstrokes, feature a cast of unique motifs evoking all sorts of stories and narratives, such as young girls brandishing a variety of weapons, or stuffed rabbit figures. These characters, however, are sometimes intentionally depicted in an abstract manner using improvised, random brushstrokes and vague compositions and colors, as if they were being assimilated and absorbed into the background - a strategy that ushers the viewer even deeper into a fictional, imaginary realm. The young girls that face off intensely against one another in Kasai's narratives harbor all sorts of inner conflicts within them. Alternatively, they might be seen as avatars for modern, present-day people confronting various problems in today's society.

Artist's statement
Based on everyday landscapes and magazine photos that I find in my daily life, or images obtained from personal photographs belonging to other people that can be viewed on the Internet, I paint imaginary figures and beings that reside in these places. My work is a hypothetical attempt to depict these landscapes that might seem dramatic at one moment, and totally restrained by various rules in the next instant. Empty lots overrun by a thick undergrowth of weeds, gardens damp with moisture after they have been watered, entrances and doorways where voices could be heard until just a few moments ago - all these are places that we encounter almost every day. Yet there are many such mundane, familiar spaces that we can never get a firm grasp or understanding of - just who lives there? How do these people look after and tend to these places? And what about all those photographs of places and scenes disseminated by all sorts of media every day that hold some kind of special significance for someone other than myself? To my surprise, I soon found myself feeling a strange, ambiguous sort of emotional attachment to these images. So I began making a whole string of drawings, as if I was conjuring up a story in some children's tale. For Neighbor's Garden, I wanted to make a work by keeping a certain distance from these landscapes and scenes that seem eminently graspable yet remain out of reach - and try to observe the resultant images from the standpoint of a "neighbor" to the people who actually own or possess them.

Courtesy of Yuka Tsuruno