Year: 2017
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 38 x 45.5 cm (15 x 18 in.)
Acquired from a private collection, 2022
“Gathering” is becoming Imai’s most representative series. The artist’s first collection of works also has the same title. In fact, she collects figurines and stuffed animals and accurately captures the scenes in her works. Imai displayed an assembly of characters from her grandmother’s overseas travels on a shelf, which she once marked as the very first inspiration of “Gathering”. The act of arranging objects is directly related to displaying exhibits for artists. To exhibit artwork, it is necessary to clearly express what to display and how. Even though Imai’s grandmother may not have a purpose or an intention to exhibit the toys, it is interesting to perceive the array of toys as a party and enjoyable to figure out the relationship to each other. This must have some sort of connection to Imai’s artistic sensibilities today.
