Hikari Shimoda is set to debut an entirely new series of paintings at the Karuizawa New Art Museum in Karuizawa, Japan, opening December 13. This marks her first major solo exhibition in the museum’s Whitestone Gallery and her second showing with the museum overall. Her latest body of work, "To Those Who Are Hurt and Broken", reflects a striking evolution in her practice as she continues to contemplate the turbulence and emotional drama of today’s world.
Whitestone Gallery will host an opening reception with the artist in attendance on December 13. Enjoy a sneak peek below! If you would like to inquire about the work, please email [email protected].
Inspired by the vivid aesthetics of Japanese manga and anime, contemporary artist Hikari Shimoda explores pressing social issues through a colorful, pop-infused visual language. The exhibition features 20 works—some continuing her long-standing focus on the struggles and loneliness of modern life, and others introducing a new conceptual thread: kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken objects with gold.
Below is Hikari’s artist statement:
"Two years after falling into depression and losing the ability to paint, I began practicing kintsugi as a hobby. Though I used a simple resin technique, I enjoyed repairing broken objects. Sometimes I even intentionally broke pottery with a hammer to practice. Doing so filled me with guilt, as if I had hurt someone. Then came the frustration and regret of having done something irreparable. After that, I would try to fix the pottery myself—and sometimes, it became more beautiful than before. Vessels break in all kinds of ways, and once repaired, they become one-of-a-kind. Until now, my work has centered on enduring the pain and loneliness of living. Who can save us from this pain? Perhaps death, or perhaps our own ability to endure, transform, and change. Conflicts continue around the world, creating deep divisions both in real life and online. How can we be saved? I could not find an answer. As I watched news of these conflicts while performing kintsugi, I thought: Maybe I can just keep mending things. Broken things cannot return to their original form. Damaged hearts, bodies, and relationships may never be what they once were. But perhaps they can be repaired into something different. Perhaps that is one form of salvation. With this in mind, I chose to exhibit works I created in moments of pain alongside paintings in which kintsugi is conceptually woven into the imagery.
The title Things refers to many forms of “things”: the human heart, society, and the world."
— Hikari Shimoda
The exhibition runs from December 13, 2025 to February 1, 2026 at the Karuizawa New Art Museum in Gallery 2 & 3 on the first floor.
Karuizawa New Art Museum
1151-5 Karuizawa, Kitasaku District
Nagano, Japan 389-0102
Phone: +81 267-46-8691