Good condition
Signed, titled, and dated at upper center on the verso.
Gallery label affixed at lower right on the verso.

Contemporary artist Atsushi Kaga (1978-) develops a pictorial world of humour and solitude around his anthropomorphic rabbit character, Usacchi. After graduating from the National College of Art and Design in Ireland, Kaga has been based in Europe, and after a stay in Kyoto in 2018, he absorbed the sensibility of Japanese art and established a unique style that combines Western and Eastern art traditions. Drawing in delicate brushstrokes reminiscent of 17th century Dutch paintings and the Rimpa school, his finely rendered animal figures express emotions that sway between humour and solitude, tenderness and pain—serving as quiet mirrors to the viewer’s inner world. Kaga has held solo exhibitions at renowned galleries such as MAHO KUBOTA GALLERY in Tokyo and mother’s tankstation in Dublin, and his work is in the collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, establishing his international reputation for poetic and subtly humorous visual storytelling.

This acrylic painting depicts Usacchi, a rabbit that is the artist's alter ego, accompanied by a small ladybird. The composition, in which the tiny creature gently rests beside Usacchi whose expression is both endearing and faintly melancholic, symbolises the delicate interplay between kindness and solitude, between the act of observing and being observed. The background reveals the fusion of Western and Eastern aesthetics and the coexistence of stillness and movement that Kaga has pursued since his residency in Kyoto. Beyond the realm of character painting, Usacchi exists as both a projection and an estrangement of the self, quietly prompting the viewer to reflect on the boundaries of identity and human connection.

ART 021 Shanghai 2019, November 7-10, 2019, Maho Kubota Gallery booth, Shanghai