A spellbindingly beautiful new collection of oil paintings from the Tokyo-born artist

In our lower gallery this summer we present the enchanting oils of Japanese artist Emiko Aida.

Emiko’s work aims to conjure the ineffable – wisps of sound, vibration, movement, light and memory – to explore notions of consciousness and identity. “My work is not completed,” she says. “It is questioning what consciousness is.”

Nature too is key to Emiko’s vision, from the flowering of the lotus blossom to the soft falling of snow, all at once interwoven with the mystery of universal rules.

She frequently uses separate canvases and materials together to make one work: “This came to me naturally, because I feel nature and humans are composed from many kinds of ingredients.”

The title of the exhibition, ‘Seeing in Tune’, stems from the notion that a musician not only hears but also sees music via a visual score. Explains Emiko: “I’ve long been interested in sounds, vibration, frequency and music to make the invisible visible. Everything has vibration, which is the point at which I want to see the mystery of nature and consciousness.”

The show is an intriguing mix of new work, including the nostalgic portrait series – modern icons created from old photos of family members. “I want to freeze their memory in a visible place,” she says.

Visually startling, too, is the ‘Barbie’ series of paintings that includes ‘Wish Upon the Star I & II’ and ‘Barbie in the Twilight”.

“They are an exploration of my sensitive adolescent heart, which still lives within me after many years,” says Emiko. “It was a hard time; my surroundings, which were supposed to be stable, had started shaking and hurting me. I couldn’t understand how to handle it, but only time was the solution. I know that now.”

‘Seeing in Tune’ also features some of Emiko’s sculptural work and we will have a wide selection of her intricate aquatint etchings available to buy: “I am the kind of person who cannot repeat the same style and technique. Boredom kills me. Challenge makes me alive.”

Emiko lives and works in west London and is a member of the prestigious Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers.

Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in many private and public collections, including the Guangdong Museum of Art, China, and New York Public Library. She has an MA in Fine Arts from the Tokyo University of Arts and an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art.

We have been honoured to hold Emiko’s prints in the gallery for many years now, and are delighted to be able to showcase her paintings too in this extraordinary exhibition.

‘Emiko Aida, ‘Seeing in Tune’, For Arts Sake, June 27-July 14, 45 Bond Street, Ealing, W5 5AS, Mon-Fri, 10am-5.30pm, Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 12-5pm; ‘Meet the Artist’, Saturday 6 July, 2-5pm. Email [email protected] for more information on the works available and to RSVP to our ‘Meet the Artist’ event.