ASUKA ANASTACIA OGAWA

The stillness of Ogawa’s paintings contrasts with an upbringingshaped by movement. Born in Tokyo, the artist lived in Brazil as ayoung child, attended high school in Stockholm, and earned a BFAat Central Saint Martins in London. Following years of continualmovement, Ogawa settled in Los Angeles about six years ago,where she found an unexpected source of creative calm in the city.The works for Yume were created in her tranquil downtown studio,where light streams in through a large window that overlookspassing cars on the Sixth Street Bridge.

At the center of Ogawa’s practice are her genderless figures, theirdark skin rendered in rich earth tones. They often meet the viewer’sgaze directly while participating in scenes of quiet ritual that evoke Shinto and animist traditions, in which spiritual presence extendsbeyond the human world into nature. Inspired by teachings from herJapanese and Afro-Brazilian grandmothers, the figures embody atender sense of maternal comfort and protection. She begandrawing “the babies,” as she calls them, in college, intuitively fillingpages with their likenesses. Over time, they came to inhabit worldsof their own; as Ogawa puts it, “they are not from the earth, but fromsomewhere else.”

These sources of inspiration, including spiritual conversations withher grandmothers, intuitive downloads, and chance encounters withanimals, continue to inform her practice. Flowers and animals oftentake on human-like qualities, suggesting a fluid boundary betweenpeople and the natural world. For this exhibition, “fuwafuwa,” aJapanese expression evoking fluffiness or softness, became a pointof inspiration after a white, fluffy flower that appeared to her in adream. Ogawa carried this feeling of lightness into the studio,infusing the paintings with an ethereal softness. In Hiraki (2026), asimilar white flower hangs delicately before a figure’s profile.

In Flower Dance (2026), two figures sway in tandem, their armsraised above their heads. Flowers bloom from their palms, whileminiature doppelgängers sprout from their heads. The exhibition’stitle finds an echo in Yume (2026), where a pastel-colored bird’sstrikingly human eye meets our own. Birds became a recurring motifafter a parrot at a pet shop repeatedly returned to Ogawa, bringingher objects clasped in its claws. This small, tender exchange reflectsthe quiet attentiveness that animates each painting.

Ogawa’s dreamscapes also create worlds where feminine energycan safely flourish. Against a history in which safe spaces for thosemost vulnerable and marginalized have often been few and farbetween, these imagined worlds offer a glimpse into peacefulreclamation. Each painting quietly invites the viewer to linger: take adeep breath, imagine a dialogue with an unlikely creature, notice anunexpected treasure along a familiar route, or find a story in theclouds.

Courtesy Perrotin.