Dreams and nightmares, the giant and the miniscule—in every inch of Mi Ju’s work these contrasts are present. On an enormous scale, the artist paints colorful bug-eyed creatures formed of smaller creatures formed of tinier creatures and microscopic landscapes. To look at a painting by Mi Ju is an act of discovery. In I Dreamt a Big Cat After Seeing a Tangerine, we see the face of a cat with blue eyes and green pupils, inside of which are mountainous landscapes surrounded by concentric circles and chimeras—part rodent, part fish, winged. The more you look, the more you see.

The work is so rich and so large that it was necessary to reproduce details in order to capture the magic of the paintings at their original scale. Micro-elements are created with layers of acrylic paint or painted paper cutouts in relief against the background of the canvas. Mi Ju’s work is an ecosystem of thrilling shapes and fantasy that leaps from her subconscious, at once whimsical and monstrous.