Through her ethereal worlds, Goto offers a space to consider the landscapes of our own subconscious where longing, prayers and curses take form.
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StolenSpace Gallery is thrilled to present ‘The Dreams of Wandering Despair’, a new solo exhibition by Japanese artist Goto Atsuko. This body of work traverses ideas of idolatry and the subconscious, drawing the viewer into a realm where memory, myth and dreams intertwine.
Deeply rooted in her Japanese heritage and the indigenous Shinto belief that divine spirits inhabit all things - both living and inanimate, Goto’s compositions explore the fragile balance of existence: beauty and decay, hope and despair, life and death. Her unique approach is achieved through the use of pigments and lapis lazuli, delicately diluted to convey a near-translucent haze. Long associated with wisdom, enlightenment, and spiritual awareness, the stone’s deep blue evokes a sense of dreams, stillness, and an atmosphere that lingers like a faded dream, somewhere between serenity and unease.
For Goto, painting itself is a form of dreaming. Her compositions unfold as beautifully unsettling visions - ghostly figures entwined with nature embody the emotions that move beneath both the conscious and subconscious mind. At the heart of these spectral worlds are guuzou oridols onto which desires, prayers, and curses are projected.
As Goto describes them: “Someone you have met somewhere, but who is nowhere to be found. Someone who is not real, whom you can only meet in dreams. Someone like a ghost or phantom, who appears in the form of human passions, prayers or curses.”
Through her ethereal worlds, Goto offers a space to consider the landscapes of our own subconscious where longing, prayers and curses take form. ‘The Dreams of Wandering Despair’ offers a space to wonder, once released, where do such emotions travel, and who carries their weight?
There will also be an exclusive edition released to coincide with the exhibition.
