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Emi Kuraya’s artistic journey is a dialogue between the self and the world, an exploration that transcends physical boundaries to delve into the realms of inner landscapes and the nuanced interplay between fiction and reality. Her thematic array traverses various sceneries and moments, each piece resonating with a distinct message, yet collectively weaving a tapestry of sweet girlhood and sober contemplation.
A significant aspect of Kuraya’s art is her focus on female figures, particularly teenage girls, as the primary subjects of her paintings. This choice of subject is deeply personal, a reflection of her own identity and experiences, yet it transcends the individual to address broader questions of gender, perception, and the societal constructs that shape our understanding of girlhood.
In her most recent works in this exhibition, there are various ‘snapshot’ moments in the everyday lives of girls: moment of the prelude to a journey, where a young girl stands with her suitcase in front of a vibrant tropical building, symbolizing the threshold of adventure and the anticipation of stories yet to unfold; moment of urban passage, where a schoolgirl’s routine crossing captures the intersection of youth and bustling city life, embodying the everyday dance between the individual and the urban environment; moment of architectural solitude, in which a young girl stands with her ‘imaginary friend’ created from the Otaku culture, amidst the complexity of modern construction in the background of Ikebukuro Station, her presence accentuating the dialogue between personal space and collective habitat; moment of lingering dreams, where a girl lies in bed in reverie, her thoughts as sprawling and untamed as the giant stuffed toy beneath her; and moment of enchanted disquiet, where a girl seemingly adrift in a forest underscores the mix of wonder and unease that accompanies our journeys into the unknown.
Figures of boys and cats also appear in Kuraya’s paintings. One work, for example, captures a teenage boy and girl duo amidst the intimate act of sharing snacks — a moment of bonding and budding relationships – in Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku district. A further work depicts a young boy and girl couple in front of a TV tower, the girl leaning towards the boy with a V-sign, as if in a souvenir photo of their relationship. In another painting, the tranquil coexistence of black and white cats atop a tree mirrors the harmonious contrasts and the diverse companionships that enrich her visual narratives. Boys, ‘the opposite gender as unknown existence’ in the artist’s own words, when they appear, are not so much characters in their own right as they are elements that highlight the multilayered complexity of female experience, adding depth and contrast to the predominantly female landscapes she portrays.
There is a certain ‘lightness’ to Kuraya’s work, reflected in the pastel colors, the innocent look of the girls and the familiarity of the everyday scenes. Her choice of colors is not deliberate, however, but the result of allowing her palette to evolve naturally from her technique, drawing on the textures and hues created by the interplay of light and canvas. This approach, rooted in the foundational use of sketches and ballpoint pen drawings that are layered with watercolor before being transformed into oil paintings, demonstrates her attention to light - not only as a physical phenomenon, but as a metaphorical beacon that illuminates the spaces her characters inhabit.
At the heart of Kuraya’s work lies a thoughtful consideration of the relationship between fiction and reality, a thread that runs through her artistic oeuvre.
By incorporating elements from photographs of places she has visited in Japan or her own childhood experiences into her paintings, yet allowing her characters to spring from the well of her imagination, she embraces discrepancies that underscore the open-endedness of her creations. These intentional ambiguities invite viewers to engage with her work not just as spectators but as participants in an ongoing storytelling process, where the meanings are as varied as the perspectives through which they are encountered. The figure in focus is both a particular individual and a vessel of universal experience, someone through whom viewers can confront their own gaze, their own emotions, and perhaps find a reflection of themselves.
In capturing these fleeting moments of adolescence, Kuraya creates a space where the line between the viewer and the viewed blurs, where each glance holds a story, and every scene is a gateway to myriad interpretations. As elements of Shoujo Manga aesthetics and Otaku spirit weave through her work, they create a playful tension, a reminder of the fluid boundaries between art forms and the ever-present dialogue between representation and self-reflection. Emi Kuraya’s art is thus a testament to the potential of seeing, feeling, and ultimately, understanding, in a world that is forever caught between girlhood and adulthood, the imaginary and the real, the lightness of being and the profundity of the worldly.
Text by Di Liu
Born in Kanagawa, Japan
Lives and works in Kanagawa, Japan
Emi Kuraya was born in 1995 in Kanagawa, Japan, now lives and works in Kanagawa, Japan. She is one of the most interesting and refreshing new voices in the contemporary Japanese art panorama. A graduate of Tokyo’s Tama Art University, in spite of her young age Kuraya has already had a few high-profile solo shows, in Japan and at Perrotin Seoul, Shanghai and Paris, and has been exhibited at Art Basel in Basel, Hong Kong and also at Frieze New York, receiving wide acclaim for the freshness, and the deep layers of meaning that make her work so captivating. Since 2018, Kuraya has been a member of Kaikai Kiki, the art society founded by Takashi Murakami.
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