Ode to Wonderland

In her third solo exhibition, the first in Singapore, Eguchi Ayane presents new works inspired by her childhood, her recent residency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and her inner thoughts. The works in this exhibition invite the viewers to reflect on their perspective on life and mortality, as quoted from Charlie Chaplin, “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long shot” .

The character ‘KUMA’ appears in all of Eguchi’s paintings. According to her, ‘KUMA’ are things that live and die; they are everywhere and yet nowhere. Having a resemblance to kuma, the Japanese word for ‘bear’, they look superficially cute, but what is inside of them remains unknown.

At a glance, Eguchi’s world is a candy-coloured whimsical wonderland but on closer inspection her paintings reveal a macabre narrative. Bitterness and sweetness coexist like a yin and yang diagram of opposing forces in nature, and like a Möbius strip, they support one another inseparably. To her, the world is both Paradise and Hell, and to be able to keep on living she has to find a way to mask the bitterness of life.