We are opening a space with two person exhibition, In the spiral, by Zhang Pingcheng and Yuka Nishihisamatsu.

Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, Zhang Pingcheng is currently based in Chiba, Japan. He graduated from the Department of Western Painting at Nagoya Zokei University, and later completed his Master’ s degree in Oil Painting at Tama Art University. Growing up in Wuxi, a city known for its classical Jiangnan-style water gardens and situated near Lake Tai, which is about the size of Tokyo’s 23 wards.(roughly the same area as the size of London, Los Angeles, or New York City)—Zhang spent his childhood surrounded by tiled pavilions and shimmering waters. Rather than merely using conventional materials and supports, he incorporates natural elements into his paintings, translating fragments of memory onto the canvas as if to preserve traces of fleeting moments.

Yuka Nishihisamatsu, born in Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, is currently based in the Kiyomizu Pottery Complex in Kyoto. She graduated from the Department of Ceramics, Faculty of Crafts, at Kyoto City University of Arts, and went on to complete her Master’s degree in Ceramics at the same institution. Nishihisamatsu creates ceramic works distinguished by their vivid colors and intricate, delicate ornamentation. Drawing inspiration from Buddhist thought and iconography, her works explore the cycles of life. In her recent series, she has turned her focus to small living creatures and invisible microorganisms inhabiting riverbeds expressing their traces and the evidence of their existence through clay.

Both Zhang and Nishihisamatsu place great importance on the subtle materials and emotions that tend to be overlooked in the cycles and transformations of daily life. Their works evoke a wide range of feelings and reflections in viewers through their respective narratives.

This exhibition presents Zhang’s new large-scale paintings—part of his ongoing daily practice of writing and painting continuously and Nishihisamatsu’s large ceramic works created during her artist residency in Shigaraki. From the distinct “spirals” that each artist generates through different media, the exhibition invites contemplation on the nature of life and the act of living itself.