Yusuke Toda (b.1991) studied oil painting at Tama University in Japan. Currently based in Tokyo, the artist’s early career was as an assistant to Takashi Murakami.

His works express the minute yet untrivial aspects of love and joy that all recognize in retrospect. Yum is a character staple in his works, a personified form of his memories from youth. In paintings, Yum gazes at a lively cosm with big sparkling eyes, where a sense of a forlorn universe crosses over with solace and even hope.

The artist collages various images of clouds, people, animals, and plants, unfolding a fantastic dreamlike ambiance around Yum. Between the spectator, his self, and all that surrounds them, the collaged composition conveys harmonious interaction and interdependence.

Yum’s apparent playfulness projects from the artist’s own childhood, a period of gleeful exuberance at even the trivial things. Now faded and blurred in grown-ups, those memories of high spirits return to those who happen across Yum.