Whitestone Gallery Taipei is thrilled to present the solo exhibition in Taipei “Folie à deux” by Japanese artist Maoka Ueda. The exhibition reveals the beauty of mathematics within the enigmatic law of nature, showcasing the reverence for life and nature through the golden ratio, vortex flows and fractal structures. Her works emphasize the tension and fluidity of visual perception brought by colors, lines and proportions, depicting familiar character imagery and other elements. The artist has titled the exhibition “Folie à deux” (Shared Psychotic Disorder), portraying illusions and unconscious fantasies that emerge in the artist’s mind within her paintings, attempting to share her life experiences and beliefs with viewers.

Maoka Ueda was born in 1996 in Hyogo. She studied in Art & Design in London for five years, completing the Foundation course at Central Saint Martins and withdrawing from the Graphic Design and Communication department at Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London, England. Maoka Ueda’s artistic repertoire primarily revolves around the distortion and transformation of cartoon characters to express the laws of nature. What may appear irregular at first glance reveals a regular and beautiful structure like the harmonious flow of notes on a musical score when observed closely. The radial arrangement of characters undergoes nuanced alterations based on the direction and proximity of the canvas, offering viewers ways of seeing and multiple interpretations. The seamless connectivity of lines fosters a sense of natural harmony, allowing viewers the freedom to mentally interconnect them. Just as an object can be perceived in diverse ways based on interpretation, the radial patterns evoke various expressions depending on the viewer’s perspective. The artist has garnered recognition for receiving a Special Jury Prize from Independent Tokyo 2020 and participated in group exhibitions such as “The International Contemporary Art AU Exhibition” at Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo, Japan in 2021, “Chroma Distance” at POLA Museum Annex in 2023 and “Nine Colors XVIII” at Seibu Shibuya in 2024. She has held solo exhibitions since 2022 including “Wonky Tunes” (2022) and “The Catcher in the Mirage” (2023). Her works have been exhibited at international art fairs and featured prominently, notably serving as the main visual for New Energy Tokyo in 2023.

The exhibition “Folie à deux” marks Maoka Ueda's inaugural show in Taiwan at the Whitestone Gallery, presenting a diverse series of her works. Apart from continuing her iconic cartoon series, the theme of this exhibition is deeply inspired by nature, delving into the enigmatic mathematical beauty inherent in the hidden structural principles of the natural world. While individually viewed, nature and creatures may seem devoid of logical pattern, yet through varying perspectives and proportional scaling, the hidden geometric shapes emerge, such as the golden ratio, vortex flow and fractal structure. Reflecting self-similarity between nature and humanity, these elements repeat forms to create a semblance of the world, finding order within chaos. Through the law of nature and the harmonies of the universe, Maoka Ueda pursues great reverence for the origin of life as well as the aesthetics of nature. Drawing from her mind’s eye, the artist liberates herself from self-boundaries, following the flow of her subconscious, akin to observing the swirling eddies of a river or the rhythmic swaying of trees in the wind, chaotic yet rhythmically turning. Emphasizing the dynamism of variations in linearity, her works are depicted through twisted distortions and radial mandala compositions. The confines of circularity provide a secure space for expressing catharsis and confronting inner anxieties. She has portrayed the lines as familiar figures in her childhood memory. However, facial features, body forms, and boundaries among characters in the works remain ambiguous, influenced by socio-cultural contexts and paradigms. They collide and merge with each other, ultimately fostering integration and self-integrity. In another series, Maoka Ueda integrates elements of natural phenomena, applying diverse structures, colors and atmospheric sensations to depict phantasmal images in her mind. Each thread of imagery was woven into a dreamlike enigma, showcasing unconscious psychological projections brought from her life experiences. The artist invites viewers to explore the connotations and to mutually influence each other.