Mayuno Kobayashi
The cheerful sandbox
SHIKISAISHA GALLERY is pleased to present The Cheerful Sandbox, a solo exhibition by Mayuno Kobayashi, opening on November 27, 2026.
Working with traditional Japanese painting techniques, Kobayashi gives form to everyday emotions and memories through animals and monsters. Her curious yet endearing characters draw on the cultures she has encountered and the things she holds dear.
We invite you to visit the gallery and discover her works on the theme of The Cheerful Sandbox.
Artist Statement
There is a form of psychotherapy called sandplay therapy, in which people freely arrange objects in a tray to express their inner world.
About a year ago, I moved into the house where my grandmother had lived. There, I began to think of a home as a kind of sandplay world—a space that holds the histories and memories of those who live in it.
What kinds of worlds do people create in places filled with their memories? Perhaps each is a cheerful world, unmistakably their own.
What would my own “cheerful sandbox” look like? This was the question I took as the starting point for the works in this exhibition.
— Mayuno Kobayashi
SHIKISAISHA GALLERY is pleased to present The Cheerful Sandbox, a solo exhibition by Mayuno Kobayashi, opening on November 27, 2026.
Working with traditional Japanese painting techniques, Kobayashi gives form to everyday emotions and memories through animals and monsters. Her curious yet endearing characters draw on the cultures she has encountered and the things she holds dear.
We invite you to visit the gallery and discover her works on the theme of The Cheerful Sandbox.
Artist Statement
There is a form of psychotherapy called sandplay therapy, in which people freely arrange objects in a tray to express their inner world.
About a year ago, I moved into the house where my grandmother had lived. There, I began to think of a home as a kind of sandplay world—a space that holds the histories and memories of those who live in it.
What kinds of worlds do people create in places filled with their memories? Perhaps each is a cheerful world, unmistakably their own.
What would my own “cheerful sandbox” look like? This was the question I took as the starting point for the works in this exhibition.
— Mayuno Kobayashi
Mayuno Kobayashi
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.
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.
