Imai was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan in 1982 and completed Doctoral Program at Graduate School of Art and Design of Tama Art University without earning a degree in 2009. Influenced by her father who is a Western-style painter, Imai was very much interested in painting since childhood. In the “Gathering” series, she depicts scenes of arranged figurines such as toast, avocado, stuffed teddy bears, and koalas as motifs. Her works are marked by her rapid brushstrokes that accurately capture the features of the subject that she is depicting. Her sharp eyes for meticulously observing quotidian objects and having an insight into the essence of the subject matter perhaps compensated for her innate hearing impairment. As the name of Imai’s ongoing series “Still Life” implies, the objects neither move nor interact with each other. Nevertheless, the paintings eloquently convey the artist's perception. Rather than exquisitely depicted with realism technique, Imai’s works are simple and subtle, yet they show the artist's affections towards the objects. It would be impossible for her to express light and texture so densely in a single brushstroke without her cherishing the time with the motifs. Imai’s solo exhibitions include「project N 78 Imai Ulala 」 (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, 2020), 「Melody」 (PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO, 2021) and so on. Her works have also been exhibited in cutting-edge international galleries such as Nonaka-Hill (LA) and Karma (NY) etc. Her father Shingo Imai is a Western-style painter, and her husband Yu Nishimura is a contemporary artist.