A quiet moment at a dining table, in which stacks of pancakes extrude on a plate, set against a tablecloth patterned with white-and-red checks—the present lot Breakfast epitomises the sweet little world depicted by the 1973-born Japanese painter Miki Kariya. With an affection for the mundane and childlike imagination, Kariya captures every fragment in life. A cup of coffee, a corner in bedroom, a vase with blossoming flowers, a mushroom, and even its tiny spore—all these small vignettes compose Kariya’s colourful fantasy.
Kariya paints primarily in acrylic on wood board. Within the simple plane, she explores rich textures of the medium by employing sandpaper to rub out the surface. A closer look at Breakfast reveals the looming presence of the wood board underneath her light, translucent brushwork. A uniquely mixed sense of tangibility and distance evoked here renders the work in a mood for daydreaming—a momentarily wandering into a wonderworld of loving little things or a floating slice from old memories.
Breakfast was included in Kariya’s 2012 solo exhibition at Mitsukoshi Ginza, Tokyo. Other solo exhibitions include Walking in Her Textured World, Ennagon Gallery, New York (2008), Paintings of Miki Kariya, Box Gallery, Tokyo (2019), and Don’t Eat Me!, Shinwa Privee, Tokyo (2022). She has also created illustrations for ANA magazine TSUBASA GLOBAL WINGS (2010-2013). Currently represented by Gallery Olym, Kariya has been introduced to art lovers worldwide through international art fairs in Tokyo, Taipei, Shanghai, and Busan, who was invited to Art Central this year in Hong Kong.