Evanescent Echoes Yumiko Glover Of Infinite Variety Hiroko Yoshimoto Opening Reception: Saturday, November 16th, 5pm-8pm November 16 - December 14, 2024  Gallery Hours: Thursday-Saturday: 12pm - 4pm and By Appointment LAUNCH Gallery 170 S. La Brea Ave Los Angeles, CA 90036 LAUNCH Gallery is proud to present two solo exhibitions exploring the beauty, complexity and fragility of our natural world. Hiroko Yoshimoto and Yumiko Glover use their observational tools and personal perspectives to document nature’s current challenges while celebrating its vitality. Influenced over the past 10 years by important ecology writers Edward O. Wilson and Rachel Carson, Hiroko Yoshimoto has focused on the natural beauty and splendor around her Ventura, CA home. Through her masterful abstract visual language, Hiroko has dedicated her practice to documenting biological diversity, sketching countless examples of source material that have yielded over 130 painted canvases, many twice the size of her petite but determined Japanese frame. In her second solo exhibition at LAUNCH Gallery, she presents these recent paintings of nature through a keen and discerning eye sharing thoughtful observations intended to raise awareness of and foster hope for our current climate challenge. "In the play Anthony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare, Cleopatra is described as a woman of “infinite variety,” a woman of such complexity and rich character who can awe, mesmerize, challenge, excite, and intrigue anyone by her infinite creative mind and being. The phrase “infinite variety” encouraged me to look into Nature that can create endless variations and permutations of life forms. I have painted more than 130 canvases entitled “Biodiversity.” Indeed, life’s infinite variety and richness bring us a sense of wonder of its abundance and vitality to every corner of our planet. To me, that is the success of life on Earth. I hope my paintings reflect celebration and wonder of such a fecund Earth of today, but with an urgent plea for sustaining it for the future." In her new painting series Evanescent Echoes, Yumiko Glover explores the beauty of nature through a transitory, cross-cultural lens of Japanese history and philosophy mixed with contemporary influences of her Southern California home. In this new series of paintings, she is tethered to her past by the calm and orderly aesthetics of Japanese gardens employing traditional elements of the bonsai tree, koi fish and rocks. Abstract forms, contemporary colors and technological ques now permeate these reconstructed dreams and recollections presenting an inspiring and satisfying hybrid. "Zen philosophy, particularly the ideas of impermanence and interconnectedness, plays a key role in this work. The precise shapes of bonsai, the fluidity of koi, and the structured garden landscapes evoke the subtle transformations of the natural world. These images become metaphors for change, illustrating how our relationship with nature is always evolving. Evanescent Echoes encourages viewers to engage with the present moment, where tranquility and the vibrant energy of contemporary life intersect. Through these works, I invite you to reflect on the beauty of life’s impermanent and imperfect moments, viewing them not as loss, but as a source of energy and vitality."