Yuji Kanamaru, Kisho Kakutani, Mayuno Kobayashi, Yu Seto, Mitsuko Taira, Shoko Mihira

Kisho Kakutani (b. 1993, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan) completed his PhD in Japanese Painting at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2022. Using everyday snapshots taken with his smartphone as source material, he creates paintings that explore the ambiguity of memory and visual perception. In series such as *Frosted Window* and *Curtain*, Kakutani deliberately obscures parts of the image with visual noise resembling frosted glass or curtains, inviting viewers to complete what is unseen through their own memories and imagination. His practice reconsiders the act of seeing in an age of visual overload, positioning painting as a device for generating new images within the viewer’s mind.

Mayuno Kobayashi (b. 1993, Aichi, Japan) completed her MFA in Japanese Painting at Joshibi University of Art and Design.
Grounded in the techniques of traditional Japanese painting, she transforms emotions and memories drawn from everyday life into images of animals and imaginary creatures.
Through these playful and approachable motifs, Kobayashi projects the complexities of human emotion and inner experience, weaving together personal memories and cultural influences to create a distinctive visual world.
In 2024, she held her first solo exhibition, A Delightful Abyss, at SHIKISAISHA and received the ONE ART AWARD 2024.

Mitsuko Taira
Born in Azumino, Nagano in 1996.
Completed her MFA at Tokyo University of the Arts.

Her work explores a quiet and contemplative world through wooden sculptures of living beings.

Drawing inspiration from the Bible, poetry, and folklore,
she creates poetic scenes that evoke moments from imagined narratives.

Her delicate attention to texture—suggesting soft fur and warmth—
reflects a deep sensitivity and affection toward living creatures.

Yuji Kanamaru
Born in Kanagawa in 1978.
Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts.

Working from a foundation in Nihonga, he develops a distinctive painterly language
defined by unique textures and layered, vibrant yet subtle colors.

Incorporating elements such as fabric, fragments of newspapers, and intentional cracks,
his surfaces generate a singular material presence.

Influenced by his childhood spent in the Middle East,
his work evokes a world where a sense of the unfamiliar and nostalgia intersect.

Shoko Mihira
Born in Tokyo in 1979.

His work explores a unique world of monsters, shaped by inner emotions and personal experiences drawn from everyday life.

Using burner-work techniques, he melts and forms glass tubes into intricate shapes,
encasing liquids and threads to visualize an internal world.

Both humorous and enigmatic, his creatures evoke a distinct sense of narrative and lingering presence.

Yu Seto (b. 1994, Odawara, Kanagawa, Japan) graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts and completed his MFA in Sculpture at the same university. Drawing on his interest in natural science, he creates sculptures of wild animals, primarily using terracotta. By leaving traces of his touch and the sculpting process visible on their surfaces, Seto explores the structures and movements of living beings and the essence of their existence. In addition to exhibiting in Japan and internationally, his practice extends across disciplines, including collaborations in fashion and design.