Yoko Ebato Exhibition
If all time is eternally present

We are pleased to present Yoko Ebato’s solo exhibition—her second with us in two years—at Gallery Sekiryu. The exhibition will travel to both of our venues: Minami-Aoyama in Tokyo and Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.

Ebato’s practice has remained consistent in her quiet, observant gaze toward familiar objects. Through drawing, she seeks to capture the time held within the presence of things. Earlier works often featured emotionally engaging motifs—such as faces or eyes—and made dramatic use of blank space. The newer works, by contrast, reveal a heightened sense of refinement and meticulousness. Along with this shift in imagery, her choice of materials and techniques has also changed. Whereas she once worked with a wider range of them, Ebato has now largely settled on a process that involves transferring black lines onto subtly glossy, unbleached mitsumata paper—a traditional Japanese washi made from the bark of the mitsumata plant. This shift reveals a conscious and deliberate choice: one rooted in an artistic attitude that distances itself from visual impact or mass appeal, while instead focusing intently on the presence of things—and the traces of people that dwell within them.

For viewers, encountering Ebato’s work becomes an act of tracing the artist’s calm, attentive gaze toward the object. In her hands, to see and to draw become gestures of care and affection. And in doing so, the viewer is also invited to reflect on their own present—on this moment in time, on a past now distant, and on the future yet to come, in which they themselves may no longer be.

This exhibition features 20 new works, primarily monotypes created using the oil transfer technique. We warmly invite you to experience them in person.

The artist will be present:
[Aoyama] 9/2 (Tue), 9/6 (Sat), 9/13 (Sat)
[Matsumoto] 9/23 (Tue)

If All of Time Were Present There

–Things That Are Simply There–

Objects don’t speak.
They're simply there.
They have surely been touched, used, placed, and forgotten by someone,
and at times, discovered again by someone else.

In their quiet presence, I sense traces of human life.

Past, present, future—
Time may seem to be divided,
but in truth, they might all blur into one another, lingering together in a single place.

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
— T. S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton” from Four Quartets

Formless things—
memories, experiences, and nostalgia.
I depict them through objects.
By painting, I hope to carefully preserve the moments someone has lived.

When one looks around, there is a never-ending stream of new information.
Time spent quietly gazing at things that simply exist, unmoving,
has somehow become something precious to us.

Objects contain memories that can only be conveyed by not being swept away.

Everyday items, trinkets, musical instruments, toys, stuffed animals...
Objects that once shared time with someone,
and those yet to encounter new owners.
To me, they are not merely subjects to draw, but vessels that continue to hold the memories of those moments.

─ Drawn as if touching ─

I draw on washi paper.
I place objects before me and trace their forms with my gaze.

The oil paint transfer technique was devised by Paul Klee.
Paper coated with oil paint acts like transfer paper, capturing lines drawn on it.
Though this technique falls within the realm of printmaking, it does not allow for reproduction.

I studied line composition from Katsushika Hokusai’s drawing manual.
Using a ruler, I capture the framework of objects,
as if assembling their unseen structures on paper.

I strive to create a composition where the shapes and the blank spaces breathe together,
creating a scene where human moments intertwine.

─ Why painting, now? ─

Now is a time when we are overwhelmed by information, consumed in the palm of our hands.

As waves of sensational and bombastic information swell throughout society, moments of
silence and quietly observing things are slipping away from us.

Art, too, seems to be swept up in passing trends like “immersive experiences” and appealing to
the masses, while its inherent quietness and the depth of engaging with objects are increasingly
overlooked.

Paintings may not answer us immediately.
However, sometimes in silence, sometimes by taking detours,
they quietly respond to the feeling within us of “wanting to calmly encounter something.”
They respond deeply and quietly.

I paint.
As if gently retrieving the time left behind by someone, deep inside an object.

1988 Born in Tokyo
2011 Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Painting, Oil Painting Course
2011 Received the 16th Ichiro Fukuzawa Award
2013 Completed Master's Program in Painting, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tama Art University
2014 Selected for WONDER SEEDS 2014
2021 Selected for the 5th Awagami International Mini Print Exhibition
2021 Received the Excellence Award at the 6th Hoshino Coffee Shop Painting Contest (Recommended by Keizaburo Okamura)
2022 Received the Special Jury Prize at Independent Tokyo 2022 (Recommended by Jinen Kanno)
2022 Selected for the 1st FEI PURO ART AWARD, Standard Category
2023 Honorable Mention at the 7th Saburo Miyamoto Memorial Drawing Award Exhibition
2023 Selected for the 2nd FEI PURO ART AWARD, Standard Category
2024 Selected for the 23rd Art Gallery Home Exhibition
Lives and works in Tokyo

CV

Works by Yoko Ebato