29/07/2026
Now on View · Room 1
Sayako Sugawara Solo Exhibition
The Shadows of the Flowers
London-based artist Sayako Sugawara is currently in Japan for the exhibition.
One of the things that struck me most while speaking with her was the idea that lies at the heart of her work: the belief that objects can hold memories and spirits.
Sugawara told me that this way of thinking may have begun with a film she watched as an elementary school student. At the time, no one around her shared such a view, but years later she came to feel that it might be a distinctly Japanese sensibility.
Rather than starting with a predetermined theme, Sugawara allows her work to be guided by the encounters and moments of chance that arise along the way. Over time, as the work gradually unfolds, she often arrives at the realization, only at the very end, “Ah, so this is what it was about.”
This exhibition, The Shadows of the Flowers, also began with an unexpected event. After receiving news of her mother’s passing, she could not bring herself to throw away the flowers her friends had given her, so she preserved them in a freezer.
Rather than turning them into artwork immediately, however, she waited. It was only after two years had passed that she felt able to face the flowers.
Although the series began with loss, it carries within it the cycle of life and a quiet passage of time that traces memory. It is an exhibition that resonates with the memories of each of us as viewers.
This is Sugawara’s first solo exhibition in Japan.
Please note that the works are available for acquisition only during the exhibition. As they will be returned to London after the exhibition closes, we encourage you to make any purchase inquiries before the end of the exhibition.
We warmly invite you to experience it at the gallery.
Sayako Sugawara
Dates: July 23 Thu – August 2 Sun, 2026
Hours: 12:00–19:00
Closes at 16:00 on the final day
Closed: Monday & Tuesday
Roonee247finearts
4F Sato Building, 17-9 Nihonbashi Kodenmacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0001, Japan
Tel/Fax: +81-3-6661-2276
