Where pigment meets clay, where brushstrokes converse with kiln fire, THE SHOPHOUSE is pleased to present duo exhibition Vertex by two Japanese artists, showcasing a profound dialogue between two distinct artistic lineages: Yui Samejima’s painting, which seeks to connect the “visible” and the “invisible,” and Tomonari Hashimoto’s ceramic sculpture, born from the earth and imbued with introspective philosophy.

Vertex signifies a point of convergence—where separate trajectories meet to form new perceptual ground. Samejima’s painting begins with a spiritual inquiry into the “invisible.” She creates small three-dimensional objects as “vessels” (yorishiro), captures the images derived from them, and assembles fragments of different times and natures—from seemingly representational shapes to abstract geometric forms—on canvas, allowing them to collide, interweave, and coalesce. This technique, which she calls “Yobitsugi,” akin to the art of kintsugi in ceramic repair, does not seek to restore an original state. Instead, it allows heterogeneous fragments to coexist within borders and negative spaces, piecing together a new world of chaos and possibility, thereby mapping the “soft architecture” of intangible entities like memory and belief.

Tomonari Hashimoto’s practice is an inward material expedition. Based at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan, he embraces the challenge of large-scale sculpture, at times building dedicated kilns for single works. The rich, profound colors on his pieces come from his specially formulated iron oxide glazes—the color of the earth, yet seemingly condensing the spectrum of mountains, oceans, and all things. These vessels, forged from clay, water, and extreme kiln fire, with their cracked textures and monumental forms, serve as vehicles for introspective philosophy and can be understood as a condensed, encapsulated universe. His ceramics echo geological time, a testament to the stubborn, enduring presence of material existence itself.

Their meeting is a resonant alignment. A shared fascination with texture as a record of time and form as a process of emergence provides the common ground. The layered, collaged visual fragments in Samejima’s work find an echo in the stratigraphic textures of Hashimoto’s clay; the deliberate negative spaces in her compositions hold a silent conversation with the charged voids contained within his vessels.

In the exhibition, the quiet tension and harmonious balance between transparency and density, fragility and endurance, the chaotic puzzle of the conscious world and the condensed expression of the material cosmos. Through this dialogue, a space opens for considering the fundamental processes of creation and perception: pigment breathes on the canvas, probing the realm of the invisible, while clay holds its breath within the kiln, steadfastly guarding a visible universe that encapsulates all things.

在顏料與泥⼟相遇的交界，在筆觸與窯火對話之間，THE SHOPHOUSE欣然呈獻雙⼈展「頂點」（Vertex），展出兩位⽇本藝術家在不同媒介譜系間的深度交流：鮫島ゆい（Yui Samejima）致⼒於連接「可⾒」與「不可⾒」的繪畫，與橋本知成（Tomonari Hashimoto）那源⾃⼤地、充滿內在哲思的陶藝雕塑。

「頂點」意味著⼀個交匯點——不同的軌跡在此相遇，形成新的感知領域。鮫島的繪畫始於對「不可⾒之物」的靈性追問。透過製作⼩型三維物體作為「容器」（依代），捕捉從中衍⽣的圖像，並將不同時間、不同性質的碎⽚——從看似具象的形狀到抽象的幾何圖形——在畫布上組合、碰撞、交織。這種被稱為「繼物」（Yobitsugi）的技法，如同修復陶瓷的⾦繼，並非復原原貌，⽽是讓異質碎⽚在留⽩與邊界中共存，拼合出⼀個充滿混沌與可能性的新世界，以此描繪記憶、信仰等無形之物的「柔軟建築」。

橋本知成的創作則是⼀場向內的物質遠征。常駐⽇本信樂陶藝之森，熱衷於挑戰⼤型雕塑的極限，甚⾄不惜為單⼀作品搭建專屬窯爐。作品上豐富⽽深邃的⾊彩，源⾃特別調配的氧化鐵釉料——它是⼤地的顏⾊，彷彿凝結了⼭巒、海洋與萬物的光譜。這些由⼟、⽔與極致窯火鍛造⽽成、帶有皸裂肌理與紀念碑式造型的器物，既是內觀哲學的載體，亦可被理解為⼀個被概括、被濃縮的宇宙。其陶藝，是地質時間的迴響，是物質存在本⾝那頑固⽽持重的宣⾔。

⼆者的相會是⼀種和諧的共振。對「肌理作為時間的記錄」與「形體作為湧現的過程」的共同癡迷，構成了對話的基⽯。鮫島作品中層疊、拼貼的視覺碎⽚，與橋本陶⼟中蘊含的⼭海層理遙相呼應；其構圖中有意經營的留⽩，與器物中承載的、充滿張⼒的虛空進⾏著無聲的交談。

展覽中，透明與緻密、脆弱與耐久、意識世界的混沌拼圖與物質宇宙的濃縮表達之間，靜謐的張⼒與和諧達到了平衡。透過對話，⼀個空間就此敞開，供⼈思索創造與感知的根本過程：顏料在畫布上呼吸，探問不可⾒之域；陶⼟在窯火中凝神，固守著⼀個概括萬物的、可⾒的宇宙。