Scroll is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new paintings by Miho Ichise, opening Friday, October 16 from 6-8pm. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition in the United States and with the gallery.

Miho Ichise’s paintings begin with a seemingly simple premise: to look closely. Her subjects are drawn from the ordinary: the warm glow of a paper lantern, the dappling of light streaming through trees, dew spattered on leaves, wisps of hair shifting in the breeze. What initially appears immediately recognizable slips into something more elusive, a remembered place or a hazy, half-formed dream.

Ichise captures her quotidien surroundings through photography, transforming these snapshots into drawing before translating to the canvas. Her snapshots serve as the raw material building blocks to construct her own world. Rather than a mere document to work off of, Ichise pulls elements out of her images, adjusting colors, cropping in further, and adding new details, leading to her paintings that occupy a space between reality and imagination. Her seemingly familiar compositions retain the intimacy of something witnessed firsthand while allowing emotion, memory, and imagination to reshape what has been experienced.

Light and shadow are central to this transformation, filtering through the artist’s compositions as both a physical phenomenon and an emotional presence. Her fascination with the dramatic interplay of light and shadow recalls the work of Baroque master Georges de La Tour, while her atmospheric landscapes and carefully distilled compositions acknowledge the diverse styles of Hasui Kawase, Pierre Bonnard, and Alex Katz. Inspirations aside, Ichise’s particularly sensibility is distinctly her own – restrained but playful, contemplative but never static. Through her paintings, Ichise hopes to express certain feelings and emotions that cannot be said through words, inviting others to see the wonder in the small, often overlooked details of life.

Miho Ichise (b. 1969) currently lives and works in Fukuoka, Japan. She received her BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art & Design in London. She has recently exhibited with Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona; Heaven Gallery, Chicago; WOAW Gallery, Singapore; Jennings Kerr, Robertson, Australia; Painters Painting Paintings; Cob Gallery, London; Marvin Gardens, New York; Fortnight Institute, New York; and Althuis Hofland Fine Arts, Amsterdam, among others. Ichise participated in Scroll's inaugural group exhibitions, Chew (2022, Tribeca) and Grand Opening (2026, Chinatown/Lower East Side), as well as a two-person exhibition with Lina Tharsing in 2024. This is her first solo exhibition with the gallery and in the United States.