Aki Kondo has been painting what she wants to see since her childhood. Through painting, she has been able to encounter her imagination in the image while being moved and understanding the world simultaneously. For Kondo, painting has been a place where her heart returns. Hence, she feels uneasy when faced with a blank canvas with nothing painted on it. She wonders if she can properly depict the world she wants to see, a world that is warm and welcoming. It is a lone struggle. Kondo superimposes this process of repetition on the real world. Our hearts are suppressed by long, harsh ordeals. Still, like melting snow, the desire to meet someone deep inside our hearts someday overflows. And if we can realize and say aloud that we have been wanting to see someone, that in itself can be a great healing experience.

This exhibition consists of 19 new works, including a large 3.6-meter work. Everything that appears in her paintings, including humans, animals, plants and stuffed animals, has the desire to see someone. It can be their families, friends or the invisible or even themselves from the past or in the future.

Please enjoy new artworks by Aki Kondo whose art practice keeps evolving ever more powerfully.

Press release courtesy ShugoArts.