Yuka Sakuma is an artist in the bijin-ga (depictions of beautiful women) genre, which has garnered widespread popularity in recent years.
The girls and women she depicts are undeniably adorable, but the true charm of this artist is the unique views on the world that she expresses through her figures.
At times we ask ourselves, what if I'd done it that way instead? What if I'd made a different choice? We all make big decisions along the way in order to attain our current lives, and sometimes we wonder how things would be now had we done something differently.
Sakuma seems to depict that alternate, what-if reality, which is born through conflict.
The expressions on the face of each girl and woman in Sakuma's paintings make it seem as if she is on the verge of saying something very important. She is a denizen of that alternate reality—or perhaps she is the artist herself.
Some things are hidden and cannot be readily seen, even when their presence is felt.
Conflict, true feelings, imagined alternate worlds...and the midafternoon moon.