Ulala Imai CLOSE

This subtle disorientation also permeates CONEY ISLAND (2025), in which two teddy bears in bathrobes sit quietly on a deserted winter beach, a shuttered amusement park looming in the distance. Inspired by Imai’s visit to New York, the painting evokes a melancholic stillness—a sense of narrative suspended. Though absent of human figures, the bears appear inwardly animated, their postures suggesting introspection or silent dialogue. As Imai notes, “An amusement park only functions when there are children playing—it is a symbol of peace. An amusement park without human presence therefore creates a dangerous atmosphere.” Her compositions often juxtapose starkly contrasting registers, which coexist within the same frame.

Recurring figures such as teddy bears in bathrobes or oversized toys serve not merely as props, but as vessels of interior life. These works resonate on psychological and spiritual planes, drawing subtly from Japanese traditions of Shinto and animism. In Shinto belief, all things—animate and inanimate—are understood to possess spiritual essence, or kami. Within this worldview, the boundary between person and object is fluid, and projecting emotion onto non-human forms is culturally intuitive. Imai considers VINCENT VAN DOG (2025), a toy dog with one ear missing, to be both an alter ego and a symbol of unconditional love—watchful, empathetic, and quietly enduring.

This sensitivity extends to her smaller food still lifes—Boiled Potatoes, Cherries, White Asparagus (all 2025)—which reference 19th-century French painting while offering intimate reflections on nourishment, daily ritual, and cultural memory. At once modest and sensuous, these works gesture towards Imai’s personal connection to France, where her mother resides, and her admiration for painters such as Van Gogh, Manet, and Cézanne. A contrasting note is struck with HOT DOG (2025), a vivid depiction of American popular culture.

Alongside domestic objects, family occupies a subtle yet significant presence throughout the exhibition. Imai shares her home and studio with her husband, who is also a painter. Wooden Couples (2024–25), a portrait of her father-in-law’s sculptures, speaks to the interwoven nature of her artistic and familial life. Other works, such as the Graduation on the Rock paintings, reflect her son’s transition from middle school—a life passage transformed into a mythic narrative. The small corsage he wore becomes a symbolic motif, while the bear figure reappears as a surrogate, embodying maternal memory, transformation, and care.

While grounded in figuration, Imai’s paintings navigate the porous boundary between reality and reverie. They hold presence and absence, clarity and ambiguity, within the same visual field. “Painting is an important communication tool that connects me to society,” she writes. In CLOSE, Imai invites viewers into a world shaped by tenderness and muteness, by memory’s elusive grasp and the enduring desire for connection.

Ulala Imai (b. 1982, Kanagawa, Japan) lives and works in Kanagawa, Japan. She studied at the Faculty of Art and Design at Tama Art University and graduated from the Doctoral Programme in 2009. Recent exhibitions include Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France (2024); Ueshima Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2024); Palazzo Tiepolo Passi, Venice, Italy (2024); Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, USA (2023); Pond Society, Shanghai, China (2023); Museum of Contemporary Art Busan, Korea (2023); Parco Museum, Tokyo (2021); and Tokyo Opera City Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2020). Public collections are held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; The High Museum, Atlanta, GA, USA; He Art Museum, Guangdong Province, China and Space K/ Kolon Museum, Seoul, Korea.