Do we truly perceive the world as it is?

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato illustrated, through his famous Allegory of the Cave, how people can mistake shadows for reality. This metaphor suggests that our understanding of the world is never entirely direct; rather, it is shaped through the frameworks of our perception and interpretation.

Today, we live surrounded by an overwhelming flow of information and images. Yet the realities we experience are formed not only by what exists outside of us, but also by what exists within us. Memories, emotions, longing, insecurities, hopes, relationships with others, and our sense of self all contribute to the ways in which we perceive and construct our own realities.

This exhibition brings together eight emerging artists whose practices explore these diverse dimensions of perception and experience. Their works engage with the subtle boundary between reality and unreality, longing for the unattainable, the gap between ideals and lived experience, landscapes shaped by memory and imagination, the wishes and aspirations hidden deep within us, human vulnerability, shifting identities, and even the act of seeing itself.

Through painting, sculpture, and other forms of visual expression, the artists illuminate different facets of the worlds we inhabit. Together, their works invite us to reconsider the assumptions through which we understand ourselves and our surroundings.

Rather than asking whether reality exists, this exhibition proposes a different question: How do we create our own realities? We hope these works encourage viewers to reflect on the many ways in which perception, memory, emotion, and experience shape the worlds they see and inhabit.

Artists

Chisato Yamashita: By blending realism and abstraction, the artist visualizes intangible presences such as spirituality and nostalgia.

Shiori Gushiken: By subtly weaving unsettling elements into pop imagery, her work re-examines the symbolic images we unconsciously accept.

Hitomi Endo: Her work captures ambiguous landscapes where dreams and reality overlap, woven together from memory and imagination.

Miyako Terakura: Through forms that symbolize prayer and innocence, the artist gives shape to the warm inner reality within the heart.

Hidehiko Iijima: Through decaying stuffed animals, his works reveal the inner contours of the self, including human weakness and pain.

Shizuka Ando: Through portrayals of individuals grappling with social and gender roles, the artist engages in introspection about identity.

Yu Hashimoto: Starting with fluctuations in perception, the artist re-examines the act of "seeing" and highlights the mechanisms by which the world is constructed.