LEIKO IKEMURA

Presented on the booth is Usagi Kannon Pray (168) (2022), representing one of the most prominent motifs in her work: the ‘usagi,’ Japanese for rabbit, first appeared in her work following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster. This mythical hybrid creature, considered a messenger for the ‘kami’ (gods), integrates rabbit ears with a human face, symbolising universal suffering, resilience, and renewal. This smaller bust is reminiscent of Ikemura’s bronze sculpture, Usagi Kannon (Rabbit Bodhisattva of Mercy) (2013/ 2018), presented at the Sainsbury Centre Sculpture Park and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Visitors will notice the usagi figure throughout Lisson’s Frieze London presentation.

Ikemura’s work is influenced by Japanese Shintoism, an ancient belief system that reveres the presence of spirits in all creatures, objects, and landscapes and emphasizes the interconnectedness of nature and humanity. This worldview emerges throughout the presentation in her cosmic landscape paintings, such as Yellow Scape (2020), Lago Rondo (2020) and B-bay (2020), where feminine forms morph into mythical forestscapes. Rooted in these beliefs, Ikemura also reinterprets Western archetypes of the female form, a subject she has explored through themes of transition, cross-culturalism, collective responsibility, and sexuality since the 1980s.

Through her practice, Ikemura seeks to emancipate the feminine body from its conventional depictions in art and disrupting social norms. Works such as Double Figure (2024) depict female figures in a state of transformation – defiant, independent, yet fragile and ethereal, almost ghost-like – representing the transient nature of girlhood. Similarly, Girl Standing in Yellow (2023) strikingly portrays a younger female figure set against vibrant, yellow-chartreuse background. The smallest painting on the booth, Haruko (2016) focuses on the face of a young female within a deep orange hue. The title of the work, a Japanese name that translates to “spring child,” touches further upon the innocence and delicate nature of childhood juxtaposed with an expression of wisdom.

Image: Leiko Ikemura, Haruko, 2016, Tempera on jute, 50 x 60 cm, 19 5/8 x 23 5/8 in © Leiko Ikemura, Courtesy Lisson Gallery