Leiko Ikemura's painting ‘Ach’ (2015) depicts a dreamlike, elusive face in a dark, almost black pictorial space. A large, single eye in the upper left corner of the canvas dominates the image. It gazes slightly sideways out of the shadows and appears alert, vulnerable and at the same time distant. In relation to the face, it appears oversized, with the iris filling almost the entire eye. This reinforces the melancholic impression. At the same time, this gaze is reminiscent of a child's eye, whose large proportions and pupils instinctively evoke closeness and empathy. The facial features dissolve into soft, blurred transitions; nothing is clearly defined, everything seems to float in semi-darkness. The nose stands out strikingly and appears both human and animalistic. Somewhere between a pig's nose and a dog's snout, it lends the figure a certain vulnerability.

The muted colour palette of grey, black and brown tones is interspersed with golden, almost luminous areas that lend the picture a mysterious, almost sacred atmosphere. The light appears diffuse, as if it were coming from within the figure.