Ayumi Aoki "To Hold Summer"

Ayumi Aoki, born in 1982, creates imagined landscapes inspired by the glimmer of water, seasonal changes in light, the colors of nature, and scenes that remain in memory. Combining collage made from torn watercolor paper and washi with acrylic brushstrokes, she brings fragments of color and form together within a single pictorial space. Her paintings contemplate the beauty of things that are constantly changing and will eventually disappear, reflecting a Japanese sensibility associated with mono no aware—the awareness of beauty and poignancy found in impermanence—and with utakata, the fleeting image of bubbles on water. In Aoki’s earlier works, colors and forms often unfolded horizontally or vertically across the canvas. In the new works presented in this exhibition, broad forms and brushstrokes intersect diagonally and expand in multiple directions, producing compositions that are more dynamic than before. Bright yellows, greens, blues, and whites intermingle with deep blacks and navy tones, evoking not only the brilliance of summer light but also the shadows, depth, and underlying presence contained within a summer landscape. The exhibition title, To Hold Summer, expresses Aoki’s desire to hold within painting the vivid yet transient light and colors of summer, together with distant memories of the season. The summer depicted is not limited to a particular time: it may be a summer from childhood, one experienced years ago, or the summer unfolding before us now. The exhibition presents new works that allow each viewer to connect the paintings with their own memories and experiences of summer.