WKM Gallery is pleased to announce In the meantime, Japanese painter Yukari Nishi’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. Renowned for her surreal and psychologically charged compositions, Nishi’s work invites viewers into a world where the boundaries between reality and fantasy dissolve. Featuring a series of all new paintings, this exhibition continues Nishi’s exploration of the surreal as a place that serves as both an escape from, and mirror of, reality. Describing her process as a form of “collage therapy”, Nishi’s somewhat psychological approach to painting — which begins with a playful indulgence of the subconscious, but ends with a very deliberate process of reflection — reveals to us the relationships and emotions of the artist’s day-to-day, particularly through the lens of her role as a mother. These strange scenes may seem slightly uncanny at first, but they are tied together by affectionate acts of giving and sharing. Nishi’s works open our eyes to the complicated nature of caretaking; its heavy burden as a never-ending task, but one that leads to the joys of love, connection, and family.

Continuing her experimentation with remixing Western media from the 70s and 80s, Nishi draws us back into her surreal world populated by half-human figures, plush toys, and fuzzy life-sized characters. Seemingly unbothered by the various incomprehensible situations they are each entangled in, the characters’ fixed smiles and blank stares waver between humorous and joyful, and threatening and foreboding. What makes these works even more peculiar is the fact that, having been born and raised in Japan, Nishi has never physically experienced the Western homes and landscapes depicted in her works. The settings of Nishi’s works function as symbols of fantasy and illusion, rather than familiarity or nostalgia.

The strange and ambiguous situations depicted in the paintings are just as fantastical as their settings, imbued with a slight tension that arises from confusion at the loss of social convention; yet a closer look reveals that the paintings revolve around affectionate relationships, and often feature an act of empathy or sharing. In reflecting on her practice and the current exhibition, the artist notes:

“Looking back on my works from the past few years, I feel that family continues to be a broad, overarching theme. Recurring motifs I’ve been drawing since earlier on — like slime spilled on the floor or a melted ice cream — seem to intuitively express things like small discomforts lurking in daily life, a desire to break free from order, or problems I’ve been putting off dealing with. The imagery of flooded floors, which I’ve frequently depicted in recent years, also feels like an extension of those small discomforts. It may reflect a kind of social anxiety — one in which the space of the home, a place that should be a source of comfort, is gradually intruded upon by the abnormal or the unexpected. That said, I believe there’s a kind of happiness that can only emerge in response to those anxieties.”

The burden of caretaking appears subconsciously in Nishi’s works as tiny annoyances like spills or home maintenance, reflecting the daily obstacles that many of us deal with in our own lives. These minor disruptions, familiar to anyone who has managed a household, are more than simple inconveniences; they are markers of the ongoing labor that sustains life. However, as the artist herself acknowledges, it is only through the hard work of care that growth and connection become possible. Through this exhibition, Nishi reflects on the strange and imperfect moments of domestic life. Her works offer a poignant meditation on family, caretaking, and the emotional nuances that lie in-between — a reminder that even amidst life’s discomforts and disruptions, love and connection endure.