Sayoko Takahata exhibition 2026

Sayoko Takahata’s  exhibition showcases the artworks of the artist’s practice-based PhD research of painting at Arts University Bournemouth. The research theme is painting practice to represent sensory experiences of the Japanese cultural concept of ma (間). Ma basically means temporal and spatial gaps, intervals and emptiness between two or more things. It is examined to be represented as states to feel emptiness for creativity. The paintings are made based on drawing practice conducted during her artist residency at Sandy Hill Arts in 2024. The residency experiences led her to discover intervals, ma, in nature for harmony with human beings, and later to explore a transient moment occurring in each gap, ma, between dots and beyond in painting practice. The artworks depict the artist research journey to paint perceptions of emptiness and creativity.