Ghost-like Hover
Yuka Mori
A solo exhibition
September 13 - October 12, 2025
1705 N Kenmore Ave, Los Angeles
ATLA is pleased to present Ghost-like Hover, the US debut solo exhibition of Kyoto-based painter Yuka Mori (b. 1991).
Ghost-like Hover is a tactile investigation into the corporeality of plants—as living bodies, not merely botanical forms. Mori, a former dancer trained in Nihonga-style painting, which translates to “pictures in a Japanese style,” creates surreal depictions of flowers that drift fluidly in and out of bodily forms. In her work, the plant emerges as both the most idealized figure and a conduit to a less confined world.
Dreamlike and softly rendered, her swirling mark-making depicts body and environment as interdependent forms—continually folding into one another in a state of metamorphic exchange. Recurring symbols such as floral variations, moonlight, and interlocking gestures are enveloped by quiet swathes of densely packed color and texture that seem to breathe around the figures. The works feel alive.
Nihonga, a Japanese painting tradition that emerged during the Meiji era (1868–1912), is rich in symbolism and material complexity. Often created on durable hemp paper or Mino washi—an elegant, thin paper used for scrolls and flexible displays—Mori’s paintings are mounted on wooden panels. Her unique approach incorporates crushed rock, shells, and animal-skin glue, alongside newer innovations such as glaze-based rock pigments and
clay, resulting in dimensional surfaces with subtle luminescence.
Painting with the changing seasons, Mori chooses colors that depart from those found in nature. Her works created in warmer months are marked by heightened chromatic intensity and vivid tonal shifts.
This exhibition spans a seasonal and personal shift in the artist’s life from 2024 to 2025: works from 2024 are more consumed by the human figure, while those from 2025 reflect a more plant-focused sensibility.
Mori is the recipient of the 2024 Pommery Prize Kyoto—an award recognizing exceptional artists featured at major international art fairs—selected from the ACK art fair. Previously exhibited at Nina Johnson Gallery (Miami, FL) and Yutaka Kikutake Gallery (Tokyo, JPN), among others, Mori’s deeply contemplative works are dynamic expressions of her virtuosity and experimentalism as a painter—one who not only applies sophisticated chromatic effects but also masterfully renders a richly symbolic world.
