"Cherry Blossoms" by Shota Suzuki
Komorebi: Fragments of Light
Booth 44, Art Fair Philippines 2026
9F, Circuit Corporate Center One, Circuit Makati
February 6 - 8, 2026
Komorebi — the subtle light that filters through the leaves of trees offers a gentle metaphor for the sensibilities that guide this exhibition. Fleeting yet grounding, fragile yet illuminating, Komorebi speaks to moments that are not fully grasped but felt. It embodies a sense of pause, reflection, and the beauty inherent in things that shift and fade away.
This exhibition marks a point in the continuing journey of the gallery, one shaped by intuition, experience, and attentive listening. Over time, our perspective has evolved, moving toward curatorial expressions that are less about spectacle and more about resonance. We have drawn from encounters that left lasting impressions: quiet gestures, unexpected materials, and works that linger in the mind like afterimages. Komorebi gathers these fragments of moments remembered, forms rediscovered and offers them not as fixed answers, but as open spaces for contemplation.
Presenting Artists
Aika RAYMOND Junichi ITO Kazuhiro TOYAMA
Kenta HIRAI Shota SUZUKI Toshio IEZUMI
Yoichiro NISHIMURA Yosuke MIYAO Yuki NARA
Gabby PRADO Joshua Carlos BARRERA Pat FRADES
SOLANO Lamps by Michelle Hui LAO
"Projection P.2606" by Toshio Iezumi
Featured Artworks
"Kilnwork" typically heated by an electric furnace goes according to program,so it's considered difficult to change significantly along the way. However, Iself-controlled the moment when the shape is reborn from flat to 3D byengaging directly with the glass in the furnace with my hands. The process ofcreating glass that quickly hardens because it hasn't completely melted,instantly bending and aligning it is truly a moment-by-moment battle.Challenging the limits of materials, creating flowing movements and livelyshapes of glass.
“Transmute” by Aika Raymond
Medium: Glass
Dimension & Year: 28 x 35 x 42 cm, 2025
Welcoming you with the hope that this message reaches you with a sense ofquiet joy. This Lucky Cat is crafted using the traditional papier-mâchétechnique known as Hariko, and is imbued with Sumi ink from my hometown inMie Prefecture.
“Lucky Cat” by Junichi Ito
Medium: Sumi Ink on Recycled Paper
Dimension & Year: 9 x 17 cm, 2025
Metal is considered as minerals or inorganic matter, is one of the elements of the Earth. Once I completely melt those metals, I reconstruct a new form to capture the moment of the changing element of the earth, which had no shape at the beginning. The sea changes into atmosphere and the body returns to soil, transformation on the Earth happens to everything in any shapes. I attempt representing the unbroken chains of those phenomena which has the
potential life form.
In the Biophilia: Blue Hatch Vase, Kazuhiro Toyama applies a blue patina, one of the most delicate and demanding processes in his practice. The color emerges from a reaction between two elements, evoking the deep tone of cobalt blue.
An example of blue patina is seen in Blue Buddha. The patina draws from a tradition long associated with Buddhist temples, where mineral-based blue surfaces were applied not for ornament, but for devotion and quiet contemplation. Over time, the blue deepens and softens, bearing the marks of weather, touch, and prayer. It embodies impermanence—mujo—as the surface continues to change, a quiet reminder that form is never fixed.
“Biophilia; Blue Hatch Vase” by Kazuhiro Toyama
Medium: Copper, Gold Leaf, Aluminum, Stainless Steel
Dimension & Year: 48 x 34 cm, 2025
“Biophilia describes the innate human tendency to seek connection with nature and other forms of life.”
"I am moved by the way that cold, hard metal can be broken down and then reworked into warm, organic forms. This act seems to me to be no different from the circulation of energy and the cycle of life, like the sea turning into the atmosphere and the body returning to the soil.”
“Biophilia: Red Hatch Vase”
by Kazuhiro Toyama
Medium: Copper, Gold Leaf, Aluminum, Stainless Steel
Dimension & Year: 47 x 33 cm, 2025
“Biophilia: Hatch”
by Kazuhiro Toyama
Medium: Copper, Gold Leaf, Aluminum, Stainless Steel
Dimension & Year: 25D cm, 2025
Yoshino cedar carries a subtle,
calming aroma and a warm,
pale tone that deepens
beautifully with age.
A graduate of Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kenta honed his craft at Shinrin Takumi Juku and Joseph Walsh Studio, later founding Studio Jig in Nara. His work has earned prestigious recognition, including the Bronze Leaf Prize, International Furniture Design Fair Asahikawa (2017); Excellence Award, Wood Design Award (Director-General of the Forestry Agency) (2017); Excellence Award, Traditional Craft Revitalization Contest (2021); and the Grand Prix, Japan Wa-Bunka Grand Prix (2024).
Thin slices of Yoshino cedar, grown in the Yoshino region of Nara, Japan, are shaved down to approximately 1.5 mm in thickness. These sheets are then laminated and bent to form the object. The title Tanagokoro means “the palm of the hand,” evoking a sense of intimacy, care, and the gentle act of holding something precious. The beginning and ending points of the bent form reminded me of the shape of a palm, which led to the naming of this work.
My creations are meticulously handcrafted through the careful layering and bonding of thin sheets of Yoshino Cedar, gradually shaped into their final form. ‘Tanagokoro’ embodies the heart of my ongoing journey, creating fine objects shaped by Yoshino cedar.
“Tanagokoro II – Palm of the Hand” by Kenta Hirai
Medium: Yoshino Cedar
Dimension & Year: 49 h x 25 w x 30 d cm, 2026
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My work does not aim to reproduce botanical specimens, but to create a landscape. This work is inspired by cherry blossoms I encountered in Gion, Kyoto, and explores the idea of Utsuroi — a sense of transition that is not defined by a fixed timeline, but by individual perception.
The composition is shaped by the image of blossoms gently swaying in the wind, capturing movement rather than a fixed form. Color in this work is expressed solely through the natural hues of metal: white through silver, yellow through gold, and shades of green, brown, and black through copper, reflecting a quiet balance between transience and material permanence.
“Cherry Blossoms” by Shota Suzuki
Medium: Silver, Copper, and Gold Powder
Dimension & Year: 43 L x 16H x 17D cm, 2026
Depth is always an elusive form, yet with Iezumi’s innovative process, the mystery of depth unravels, and with light, the lines are effortlessly flowing and fluidly illuminating.
A new, 𝐹𝓁𝑜𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 iteration of the 𝑀𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒮𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 makes its debut at Art Fair Philippines, marking a thoughtful progression shaped by meticulous precision and restraint.
“(Floating) Move M.2607” by Toshio Iezumi
Medium: Plate Glass, Half Mirror, Handmade, Carved & Polished with Hanging Components
Dimension: 60 x 7.5 x 6 cm, 2026
For the first time, the artist presents a new Projection Series, unfolding like an emerald waterfall, where light, reflection, and depth cascade across the surface of glass.
In recent works, I have introduced mirrored and heat-reflective glass, expanding the interplay between transparency, reflection, and perception. Through these innovations, I continue to create works that aspire to endure for a thousand years, artifacts of our time that hold within them a lasting dialogue between material, light, and human vision.
“Projection P.2606" by Toshio Iezumi
Medium: Heat Reflective Glass, Half Mirror, Handmade, Carved and Polished
Dimension & Year: 100 x 20 x 6 cm, 2025
In his recent works, heat-reflective glass and semi-transparent mirrors extend the optical rhythm beyond the object itself. Layers of reflection emerge and recede, responding to light and space, allowing the work to breathe with its surroundings. The result is a form that moves both physically and emotionally—quietly resonant, yet continuously shifting.
“Move M.251201" by Toshio Iezumi
Medium: Heat Reflective Glass, Half Mirror, Handmade, Carved and Polished
Dimension & Year: 100 x 10 x 7 cm, 2025
Yoichiro Nishimura is a Japanese photographer known for creating mesmerizing photographic images. He skillfully studies the interplay of light and shadow to unveil and conceal the mysteries of nature. His accolades include the prestigious Philip Morris Art Award in 2000, and his works are prominently featured in art and photography exhibitions throughout Japan, Asia, and France.
"Dahlia 001" by Yoichiro Nishimura
Medium: Fine Art Photograph
Yosuke Miyao, the artist behind the captivating 𝐿𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒟𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈, encountered an unexpected challenge in the summer of 2025. The glass essential to creating these luminous works had ceased to be produced. This absence compelled him to begin anew, to develop the material from scratch, constructing his own furnaces and kilns in the process.
The undertaking was demanding. Shaping thick glass into forms as delicate as a softly blooming flower required extraordinary patience and resilience, as well as an ability to endure the relentless heat of the kiln. Yet Miyao persisted, guided by an unwavering devotion to his craft.
“Light Dances ” by Yosuke Miyao
Medium: Glass
Dimension & Year: 38 x 32 x 38 cm, 2026
*Video courtesy of the artist Yuki Nara
Yuki Nara’ s Bone Flowers are vases with complex forms: around a small container modelled in white clay, dozens of slices of the same clay, each cut with the aid of a stencil, are arranged like the spokes of a wheel around their hub. A long firing followed by repeated applications of glaze allows the compositions to hold. The result is an abstract object that shifts in shape and form depending on your viewing perspective. The inspiration for these vases comes from early Japanese ceramic art, in particular Jomon (14,500–300 BCE) pottery.
In my artwork, the vibrant colors
represent the various triggers of my
synesthesia—whether it's a sound, a
word, or an emotion. Each color
corresponds to a specific sensory
experience, a reaction to something in my
environment that sparks a cascade of
overlapping sensations. For instance, a
single note of music might trigger a burst
of bright yellow, or a certain word could
evoke a ripple of blue green and orange.
These colorful triggers are constantly in
motion, flowing and interacting with one
another, creating a dynamic and ever-
changing landscape within my mind.
In this series, blue emerges as the visual anchor — the pause, the void, the moment where time freezes. Inspired by Yves Klein, this blue exists as the past: a pocket of stillness where memories surface, shift, or dissolve.
Around it, warmer and more dynamic hues flow like the present and future—emotions in
motion, constantly changing, never fixed. The blue holds everything together, a quiet space for reflection amid the movement.
“Komorebi: The Morning Breathes”
by Gabby Prado
Medium: Acrylic, Pencil, Pigment Powder and Spray
Dimension & Year: 4H x 2.5W ft x 3 panels, 2025
Nobody said it was going to be easy coming from living inside a mind that never fully rests.The figure does not resist; it lies down, accepting fatigue. The mushrooms growing fromthe head are acts of care, forming a protective layer between the body and the mind’snoise. Their presence reflects the concept of komorebi—a quiet, transient light that exists within shadow, offering softness rather than resolution.
“Nobody Said It Was Going to be Easy” by Pat Frades
Medium: Ceramic
Dimension & Year: 7 x 8 x 8 in, 2025
The "Blushing Dawn" is Joshua Carlos Barrera’s fragmented depiction of the statue with its revelations from notoriety to obscurity being interpreted through numerous motifs in the work. The flowers and petals, butterflies and bees—all floating and blown in the wind—are elements of fleeting beauty and sweetness associated with Venus as the goddess of love. The backdrop of golden clouds and cotton candy pink skies signify opulence and intimacy, while dripping red paint from strokes cutting across the canvas allude to the stories behind the statue returning to the forefront.
Medium: Acrylic, Metallic Ink, Marker on Canvas
Dimension & size: 121.92 x 91.44 cm, 2026
"The Triumphant" embodies both becoming and overcoming: a realization in Barrera’s journey that looking back at the masters is not laboring in the shadow of their legacies, and instead, it is creating in their light. It was through the encounter with Michelangelo’s late sculpture that it dawned on the artist: people are inevitably fleeting, but their ideas can endure long into the future—becoming invincible.
Medium: Acrylic, Metallic ink, Marker on Canvas
Dimension & Year: 36 x 48 in, 2026
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Whether following the rhythmic curve of a petal, the infinite cycle of a cylinder or the layering of fabrics, the light is no longer a guest in the room—it is the presence itself.As the colors shift when the lamps are switched on, so does the mood and how we see the lamp and ourselves -- ultimately, we arrive at a place where we feel that the light doesn't just hit the surface; it lives within it.
Solano Lamps by Michelle Hui Lao
Medium: Acrylic and Pencil on Canvas
and lamps by Solano Lamps
Dimension: 41 x 18.6 x 3 inYear: 2026
The word komorebi describes the moment light filters through the leaves of a forest—a fleeting, quiet dialogue between sun and shadow. In this collection, that ephemeral moment is given a permanent home. By treating light as a medium rather than a utility, Gabby and I have translated the language of painting into sculptural form.
Both our processes are one of restraint: using acrylic washes and deliberate pencil strokes to map the sensation of warmth. The soft, mature pastels do not just sit upon the surface; they are activated by the glow from within, turning the lamp into a living canvas.
Solano Lamps by Michelle Hui Lao
Medium: Acrylic and Pencil on Canvas
and lamps by Solano Lamps
Dimension & Year: 61H x 12D in, 2026
