Whitestone Ginza New Gallery is pleased to present The Unfixed, a solo exhibition by Masayuki Tsubota.

The Unfixed is a phrase that alludes to Tsubota’s ongoing exploration of the interconnected aspects of existence, space, and perception, beginning with the work itself. It evokes the presence and vitality of matter that emerges through color and material, the transformation of space brought about by the placement of a work, and images that shift according to the changing position of the viewer.

The exhibition will feature a new body of works centered around Tsubota’s ongoing series the layer of self, the wall of self, and the core of self, alongside drawings that form the foundation of his artistic practice.

Masayuki Tsubota, "YT-2081" 2025, pigment and acrylic on wood board, 40 × 33 × 6.5 cm

The Unfixed

My work begins not with the intention of completing each piece as an independent object, but with questions about how a work can affect a space and how it can unfold within it.

Throughout my practice, from the layer of self and the wall of self to the more recent the core of self, I have repeatedly explored structure. Rather than simply defining form, structure functions as a device for organizing the relationship between inside and outside.

These are not separate motifs, but different manifestations of a single underlying interest: how to give material form to an external contour and the invisible space that emerges within it. Through color and material, I explore the forces a work can possess, the presence it can emanate, and how its unseen aspects might evoke a viewer’s sense of physical imagination. In doing so, I seek to encounter the sense of presence and vitality inherent in matter—something that remains even after the intervention of the human hand.

the layer of self and the wall of self emerge within the work as boundaries between material and image, while the core of self appears as a condensed center.

Masayuki Tsubota, "YT-2130" 2026, gesso on wood board, 28 × 28 × 28 cm

Yet my interest lies not in these formal differences, but in how they connect with one another and, through their arrangement, come together to form a unified space. Even when standing alone, a work is, for me, always an open fragment of a larger space, connected to the works around it.

Through the works presented in this exhibition, I seek to give form to a way of thinking about space sustained by color and material, while creating a space between the works and their surroundings that maintains a quiet yet palpable tension.

As the viewer moves, so too does the image, and the act of looking itself can never be fixed.

Like a world yet to be discovered, the works remain open-ended, leaving room for dialogue and interpretation.

— Masayuki Tsubota