Towa Takaya "Contours of the Unseen"
Kamakura Gallery
Until Dec 25
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Artists
Towa Takaya
Takaya Towa graduated from the Department of Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, after studying at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London.
Based in Tokyo, she has developed a painting practice that explores phenomena in which images shift according to the viewer’s position and the surrounding light, combining pigments she creates from soil, plants, cosmetic materials, and other sources with a multi-layered optical design.
In this exhibition, Contours of the Unseen, a diverse range of works will be presented together, including the Mizuha Series—an evolution of the long-pursued Blue Series; the Earth (Suzu, etc.) Series, which incorporates local materials such as soil and sand from Suzu in Noto; and the Moss Series, which examines the dynamism of nature from a microscopic perspective. The exhibition will also feature works painted on irregularly shaped canvases—elongated or semicircular forms—through which Takaya seeks to question the conventional framework of painting itself.
Takaya’s creative practice transcends painting as a medium and becomes an act of exploring the relationship between human existence and all things through the transformation of matter.
Cultural studies scholar Yamamoto Hiroki has remarked on Takaya’s artistic endeavour, stating that “the acquisition of site-specificity cultivates an awareness of locality, and her earliest attempts and most recent works form a circular structure that embraces change.”
This exhibition offers a long-awaited opportunity to reveal the organic circularity of Takaya’s artistic practice—from the fluctuations of light created with pearlescent agents developed in collaboration with Shiseido, to the inversion of ground and figure using materials that combine brass with local elements, and finally to the creation of works intended to support recovery from the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
Momentary yet eternal, microscopic yet infinite, existence and nothingness—
Takaya Towa’s latest paintings of phenomena invite viewers into a multi-layered and reversible perception of time and space.
Based in Tokyo, she has developed a painting practice that explores phenomena in which images shift according to the viewer’s position and the surrounding light, combining pigments she creates from soil, plants, cosmetic materials, and other sources with a multi-layered optical design.
In this exhibition, Contours of the Unseen, a diverse range of works will be presented together, including the Mizuha Series—an evolution of the long-pursued Blue Series; the Earth (Suzu, etc.) Series, which incorporates local materials such as soil and sand from Suzu in Noto; and the Moss Series, which examines the dynamism of nature from a microscopic perspective. The exhibition will also feature works painted on irregularly shaped canvases—elongated or semicircular forms—through which Takaya seeks to question the conventional framework of painting itself.
Takaya’s creative practice transcends painting as a medium and becomes an act of exploring the relationship between human existence and all things through the transformation of matter.
Cultural studies scholar Yamamoto Hiroki has remarked on Takaya’s artistic endeavour, stating that “the acquisition of site-specificity cultivates an awareness of locality, and her earliest attempts and most recent works form a circular structure that embraces change.”
This exhibition offers a long-awaited opportunity to reveal the organic circularity of Takaya’s artistic practice—from the fluctuations of light created with pearlescent agents developed in collaboration with Shiseido, to the inversion of ground and figure using materials that combine brass with local elements, and finally to the creation of works intended to support recovery from the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
Momentary yet eternal, microscopic yet infinite, existence and nothingness—
Takaya Towa’s latest paintings of phenomena invite viewers into a multi-layered and reversible perception of time and space.
Schedule Now in session | Nov 15 (Sat) 2025-Dec 25 (Thu) 2025 10 days left Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Venue | Kamakura Gallery http://www.kamakura.gallery/  | ||||
| Location | 4-1-11 Kamakurayama, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa 248-0031 | ||||
| Access | 15 minute walk from Nishikamakura Station on the Shonan Monorail line; From the East exit of JR Kamakura Station, take the Keikyu bus and get off at Kamakurayama. The venue is 1 minute walk from there. | ||||
| Phone | 0467-32-1499 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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