Gallery Soumei-do presents Takahashi Azusa’s solo exhibition, "Things Outside the Room."
Takahashi Azusa has created works that embody a subjective perspective based on memory, including an illustrated bird book. In recent years, she has produced abstract visual compositions by observing and combining elements found in everyday life, such as wood grain on furniture, tiles and cobblestone patterns, and the woven textures of fabrics.

At the core of her ever-evolving work lies a distinctive viewpoint. Her paintings reveal a unique sense of distance between her inner world and reality, as well as the fluid shifts in perspective within her compositions.

For example, in her lithograph series depicting birds, she avoids illustrating every detail necessary to identify specific species, as one might find in a conventional field guide. Instead, she captures their silhouettes or the intangible presence of birds hidden somewhere within the forest. These images reflect the way she experiences birds in reality—emerging naturally in her mind, including the ambiguous and undefined aspects. Similarly, when she portrays inorganic objects like furniture or tiles, their essence remains elusive to her. She engages in an ongoing process of exploration—questioning what they truly are, drawing them closer, then stepping back once more to observe the completed work from a detached perspective. This oscillation between proximity and distance reveals an experimental approach to perception.

The exhibition title, "Things Outside the Room," also conveys Takahashi’s subtle sense of separation from the external world, as well as the gentle movement between her inner and outer realms.

"When I create, I need to shift into an introspective state.
I shut myself in my room, gaze at the blank paper before me, and begin to move my hand.
The more I focus, the more the surrounding reality fades into ambiguity.
Meanwhile, something resembling a landscape emerges on the paper.
Perhaps my conceptual self, confined within the room, is attempting to give form to a world dissolving beyond my consciousness.
It is like an attempt to visualize my subconscious."
— Takahashi Azusa

The key visual for this exhibition, "Window II," presents a scene that unfolds outside a window, as if viewed from within.

"The accumulation of lines creates an image that resembles an air current or a vast pasture.
I feel a sense of comfort and tranquility as I watch this unfold—
much like gazing into the distance from my own room."
— Takahashi Azusa

The wooden frame of the window is left exposed, revealing the natural grain of the wood panel. While the landscape seemingly extends beyond the frame, the painting itself remains on the surface of the wood. In other words, the pigment protrudes toward the viewer rather than receding into the depth of the scene. In depicting the world outside the window, what Takahashi may have ultimately captured is, in fact, the interior—the landscape of her own mind.

We hope that this exhibition, by inviting you into Takahashi’s shifting perspectives, will lead to new discoveries. We warmly invite you to experience it for yourself.

Artist
　TAKAHASHI Azusa

Special Web Gallery
　 Things Outside the Room
　*During the exhibition period, the displayed artworks will be simultaneously available for viewing and purchase on this page.

Exhibition Period
　March 15 (Sat) – March 29 (Sat), 2025
　11:00 AM – 6:30 PM
　Closed on Sundays, Mondays, and public holidays.

Venue
　 Gallery Soumei-do
　 Yamada Building 7F, 1-8 Kanda Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0051, Japan

Artist profile
　Biography
　2021-2024　
　　Educational and Research Assistant, Same Laboratory
　2019　
　　Completed Master's Program in Painting, Printmaking Department I,
　　Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
　2017　
　　Exchange Program, University of Applied Arts Vienna
　　/ Assistant to artist Richard Gorman in Ireland
　2016　
　　Graduated from the Department of Painting, Oil Painting Course,
　　Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts

Exhibition
　2023　
　　KWAIDAN (Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum / Shimane, Japan)
　2022　
　　Floating Garden (Gallery Soumei-do)
　2021　
　　Takahashi Azusa Exhibition (Art zone Kaguraoka)
　　DUB (Yanagisawa Gallery)
　　その場合、わたしは何をする？～版画のひきだし～
　　(In that case, what would I do? ～Print Drawer) (Geidai Art Plaza)
　　Japan meets Tirol - Grafik (Kunst-Werk-Raum / Austria)
　2020
　　YAN (SO Fine Art Editions / Ireland)
　　かけらをあつめて (Collect the pieces)(Isetan）
　2019
　　AIRMAIL #2 (Yanagisawa Gallery)
　　SO Fine Art Editions (Ireland)
　　ASSAB ONE (Italy)
　　Japan-China-Korea 3 Artists Exhibition Toward the Future (B-gallery)
　2018
　　Takahashi Azusa Exhibition (Art zone Kaguraoka)
　2017
　　Shotai (SO Fine Art Editions / Ireland)