INTENSELY ATTRACTED TO LIGHT, ITS REFLECTION ONTO DIFFERENT SURFACES AND ITS ATMOSPHERIC PRESENCE, MAYA ISHII PAINTS DIVERSE FORMS OF LIGHT IN A WAY THAT EXUDES SILENCE AND SERENITY. HER WORKS ARE ALL BOUND BY AN ATMOSPHERIC GLOW OF DIFFERENT DEGREES OF SUNLIGHT THAT STREAM INTO HER PAINTINGS. SHE IS AN ARTIST WHOSE INTERESTS ARE IN VARIOUS SENSORIAL STIMULATION FROM THE MUSIC OF THE BEATLES AND CHOPIN; THE WRITINGS OF ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY; THE WORKS OF ELLIOTT ERWITT, WHICH ALL CONTRIBUTE TO HER ARTISTIC PRODUCTION. MANY OF THESE ARTISTS' WORKS ARE ETHEREAL AND OPTIMISTIC AND EVOKE SENTIMENTAL FEELINGS IN THE SPECTATOR, WHICH ISHII TRANSLATES IN HER WORKS.

THE SCENE CAPTURED IN ISHII'S PAINTINGS PROMISE (LOT 704), POINTING IN POINTING OUT (LOT 704) AND THE SIGHT (LOT 704) HAVE AN ELEMENT OF SOLITUDE AND EMPTINESS, WHICH PERHAPS PROVIDED ISHII WITH A LITERAL AND ABSTRACT SPACE TO REFLECT. THE THREE PAINTINGS ARE THE PRODUCT OF HER CONTEMPLATION AND LOVE OF NATURAL LIGHT, NOT A SIMPLE OBSERVATION OF NATURE. HUMANS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS ARE NOT THE CENTRAL ELEMENT TO HER WORKS BUT RATHER THE ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH PEOPLE ARE FOUND. AS IF HER EYES WERE THE SHUTTER OF A CAMERA, AS DENOTED BY THE BLURRED IMAGE AND SLIGHTLY OFF-CENTERED PLACEMENT OF BENCHES AND PEOPLE IN HER COMPOSITIONS, WE TOO WITNESS AN EVERYDAY SCENE. IN BOTH THE SIGHT AND POINTING IN POINTING OUT A FIGURE IS PRESENT, YET HER OBSCURE PRESENCE SUGGESTS SHE CAUGHT ISHII OFF-GUARD. PERHAPS ISHII TOOK A SECOND LOOK AS THE WOMEN WALKED BY, OR CAPTURED A MENTAL POLAROID PHOTO TO LATER TRANSFER ON PAPER. THE SOFT APPLICATION OF HER PENS AND COLOUR PENCILS ARE ALSO REMINISCENT OF IMPRESSIONIST WORKS FOR THEIR COLOUR PALETTE AND DAZED PERSPECTIVE.