Last year, in the exhibition at Kogei Seika Issuiryo, Tokyo, we presented Gaku NAKAZWA’s wood boxes. At that time, he wrote: “In this singular age, what have we rejoiced in, and what have we struggled with? How will humanity someday judge us? / In an era overtaken by eloquence, I wish to never abandon the act of questioning, and to continue believing in the possibility of dialogue.”

For his first solo exhibition at our gallery, we once again focus on his "wood box". While a box is inherently a highly craft-oriented tool—one that pursues the harmony of function and beauty—it is also a symbolic form that asks us to consider interior and exterior, the visible and the invisible.

Titled “absence,” this exhibition does not present boxes crafted for practical use. Rather, NAKAZAWA has created them as vessels for thought. More than twenty empty boxes will line the gallery space. As viewers gaze upon them, gently touch them, and quietly “converse” with them, each box will gradually become filled—transformed into a special container for the person who chooses it.

In this moment in history, the act of making with one’s own hands holds a particular beauty and meaning. These boxes embody that very allure. Through his work, I hope not to expand or redefine what craft can be, but instead to reexamine Craft｜工藝 itself, and in doing so, to carefully observe one facet of contemporary art that emerges from such a perspective.

NAKAZAWA’s wood boxes reflect an earnest, steady engagement with both material and era. At the close of the year, we invite you to encounter these works—and the quiet beauty they hold.