Ichigo-Ichie brings together new works by Japanese-born, Australian-based artist Mika Nakamura-Mather, reflecting on the Japanese concept of ichigo ichie — a philosophy that urges us to cherish the singular nature of each moment, encounter, and place.
Through processes of layering and surface abrasion, Nakamura-Mather builds and then scratches back into her works, allowing absence to register as clearly as presence. Wood is central throughout the exhibition, functioning both as a printing substrate and as a cultural reference to Japanese traditions of carving, inscription, and record keeping.
Across the exhibition, landscapes and environments act as quiet witnesses to change, marking shifts in season and location, while relationships and remembered figures fade, return, and transform. The works offer a tender meditation on home and belonging as states that are continually remade over time.
Nakamura-Mather holds a Doctor of Visual Arts from Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, and has been widely recognised through finalist selections in major awards including the Libris Award, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Deakin University Small Sculpture Award, Clayton Utz Art Award, and Du Rietz Art Awards. Her work has been exhibited across Australia and Japan, including at Artspace Mackay, Choyodo Gallery (Japan), Youkobo Art Space (Tokyo), and in international biennales such as the Nakanojo International Art Biennale (Japan) and Anima Mundi (Venice).
An artist-led workshop will be held in conjunction with the exhibition on Sunday 15 February 2026.
Image: Mika Nakamura-Mather, My Old Country Home (Furusato), 2024, Japanese indigenous timber, photographic transfer sheets, natural Japanese pigments, ink, scratched figures, steel hinges, 15 x 80 x 0.5 cm.
