2023 marks the third year of collaboration between Soka Art and the popular Japanese artist Maho Takahashi. With a sense of childlike fun, Maho’s artworks often feature digital girls in various poses with backgrounds consisting of gold foil, a traditional symbol of Japanese art. The artist ingeniously mixes classical and contemporary elements in a vividly contrasting art style that has been impressing many collectors. In response, Soka Art is once again partnering with Maho in 2023 by organizing two large-scale solo exhibitions, 《うつくし》and《めでたし》, at Soka Art Taipei and Soka Art Innermost Tainan, respectively, marking their debut in Taiwan and bringing many exciting and novel works here. At Soka Art Taipei, the《うつくし》exhibition will be on display for five weeks from April 1 to May 6, 2023. On Saturday April 1, there will be an opening tea party starting at 4pm where the artist will share with participants her latest creative concepts in-person. All guests are cordially welcomed to join this opening event.

At Soka Art Innermost, the exhibition name,《めでたし》, refers to the joyful mood when celebrating great achievements. In Japanese, it is a congratulatory phrase used to celebrate the healthy development of children, business success, or a fruitful agricultural harvest. 《うつくし》at Soka Art Taipei revolves around the theme of seasonal changes and nature as extensions of lucky charms and stories in Japanese culture. In traditional Japanese culture, there is belief in an all-encompassing spirituality whereby the gods of land and nature leave an imprint in people’s memories through decorative symbols. such as lucky charms. To Maho, these religious beliefs do not just consist of simple worshiping rituals. Inspired by people’s sincerity as they pray to the sky when thunder strikes in deep gratitude for the conveniences that mountains, rivers, and oceans bring to our lives, the artist captures imagery of digital girls playing in nature through her unique artistic method of expression. In doing so, the artist depicts the simplest yet strongest qualities of human belief in nature.

Maho’s most iconic digital girls, あの子(Anoko), serve as reflections of her own childhood experiences. From the most critical stages throughout infancy and childhood in the development of an individual’s personality, the artist believes everyone has a unique and incomparable “inner child” where all experiences and emotional memories are stored. Animations, comics, and games played a pivotal role in the childhood of digital natives who grew up along with the Internet after the 1980s. These elements had a profound impact on the artist as they did on others from the same generation. Maho attempts to awaken the “inner child” hiding somewhere in our memories during this digital age. At the same time, she also reminds us of the wonderful tradition of faith in nature among humankind.