Quiet, understated forms that reveal the natural grain and character of the wood itself. We are pleased to present a solo exhibition by Gaku Nakazawa, a woodworker based in Ueda, Nagano, whose practice centers on kurimono—objects carved directly from solid wood using chisels and hand planes.

Ueda lies in a basin surrounded by mountains. Growing up with rivers and mountains close at hand, Nakazawa spent his childhood immersed in the changing seasons: gathering wild mountain vegetables with his father and grandfather in spring, and heading into the mountains with friends to pick mushrooms in autumn. When looking at the grain of a piece of wood, he imagines where the tree once stood, the direction in which its branches grew, and the environment that shaped it. This way of seeing can be traced back to the natural world that surrounded him from an early age.

Nakazawa makes what he himself finds beautiful and what he would want to live with, choosing each piece of wood according to his own sensibility. When an old utensil or a masterwork moves him, he recreates it with his own hands to understand the sensibility embodied in its form. At other times, an encounter with an exceptional piece of wood becomes the starting point, and he searches for a form that feels right for the material itself.

He considers the time a tree has lived through and imagines the objects he makes passing from hand to hand, still being used a hundred or even two hundred years from now. Through wood, Nakazawa’s work leaves room for the imagination to move between past and future.

This exhibition brings together trays, vessels, tea boxes, and other works made from carefully selected, exceptional woods. We invite you to experience them in person and hold them in your hands.