Hideaki Kawashima uses portraiture to expose the ambiguities of human life. Rendered in subdued palettes of seamlessly-blended oils, his wide-eyed characters express a spectrum of emotions: fear, desire, angst, longing. Said emotions, however, are never singular or overt. Similarly, androgynous facial features set gender identities in flux and small ghost-like creatures symbolise the blurred boundary between physical and spiritual realms. Playful touches of folklore, mythology and surrealism surface throughout, drawing influence from painters such as Mark Ryden and Pierre et Gilles. Having emerged in 1990s Japan alongside artists like Yoshitomo Nara, Kawashima’s work sits within the Superflat movement, contributing to the establishment of rich new legacies for manga and anime-influenced figuration.