Year: 2009
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 97 x 145.5 cm (38 1/4 × 57 1/4 in.)
Acquired from SBI Art Auction, 2023
This is a work from 2008, a relatively early stage of Imazu’s artistic career. Since Imazu uses fragments of various images collected in magazines and online as the basis for the composition of her paintings, the perspective, scale, and resolution for each motif are often different. This characteristic is well represented in this work. The viewer’s attention is likely drawn first to the large group of birds spreading in the right half from the center of the canvas, with various species gathering in the wither trees. While this scene emphasizes an unrealistic impression, in reality, birds of prey and their natural enemies, small birds would not be sitting next to each other so calmly. The contrast is accentuated only around the eye-catching figures with the strongest light in the painting, which suggests a deep darkness of the space surrounding them. Compared to the characters, the birds are all depicted as gigantic. Upon a closer look, the depth of the painting is almost lost, making it appear as if they were on a flat stage set. The bright nightscape or scenery of the glowing water surface that extends in the back and the distorted buildings that sink in the blue darkness make this strange world seem even more unknown. From the title, although the expressions of the figures who are supposed to be exploring are discernible, one can imagine their little adventure as they must have been astonished by the encounter with this strange scene that suddenly emerged from the darkness. It is a work that touches on the rich creativity in Imazu’s style.
