Yu Nishimura: Ebb Tide

Yu Nishimura's paintings are based on simple motifs. People and animals, portrayed up close or in poses that express thoughtfulness. Urban accents permeate the landscapes: cars speeding through the wilderness, lonely figures lost on the outskirts. For his first exhibition in our part of Europe, Nishimura has prepared a new series of paintings. The fluidity of perception is the source of his inspiration. The artist believes that how we perceive reality is subject to constant change. To translate this impression into his canvases, he uses such means as blurred lines, shifted edges and subtle colors, at times pale, even transparent, applied in layers. "I would compare the way I paint to the shapes left on the beach by waves receding into the sea; like water whose streaks slowly soak into the sand," Nishimura describes his process.

The subjects of the paintings prepared for the exhibition continue the same narrative. Solitary characters captured in narrow frames (Luzak), meditating under a starry sky (Booth) or marching through a forest (Seasons); animals encountered suddenly and unhurriedly observed (Cat Hill, Fish Shoal). Composed from several different perspectives, each of these is arranged into a multi-layered whole.