Nara Yoshitomo has developed a practice since the 1980s across a wide of mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and installation. He lived in Germany from 1988 to 2000, holding numerous solo exhibitions in Europe, the United States, and Asia following his return to his home country and establishing himself as one of the leading artists in Japan and Asia. He is known for his extensive knowledge and passion for music, his work with various artistic collaborators, and activities that go beyond pop culture and contemporary art. His body of work frequently features children and animals rendered in simplistic, abstract, and misshapen forms, bringing such seemingly conflicting dispositions as affability and the sacred or innocence and cruelty into symbiosis, and stirring the imagination of the viewer. His recent output includes many portraits with a serene, spiritual aura. The protagonists of Nara’s work are mouthpieces of the weak and honest (and thus powerless in society), of those living on the margins or at the borders, and also expressions of the pure heart that still beats in a corner of our adult minds. His recent solo exhibitions include two self-titled shows: one at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2021-2022) and Yuz Museum Shanghai (2022), and another that toured Taiwan in 2021 and 2022 to the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, and Tainan Art Museum.

Miss Moonlight depicts a young girl with her eyes closed, glistening mystically with golden hues against a dark backdrop. It was made for the exhibition STARS: Six Contemporary Artists from Japan to the World, held at Mori Art Museum in 2020, and subsequently acquired by the museum for its collection. The titular girl seems to be offering up a quiet prayer with an expression on her face that is particularly gentle and affectionate, even among the large portraits of tranquil and spiritual-looking characters Nara has painted since the 2000s. The variegated colors shimmering in her hair are likely an effect of the moonlight. The spiritual and certain sacred nature of the work recalls the paintings of Mark Rothko, and coming face to face with it is an experience that prompts the viewer to confront their own soul.