For Immediate Release

Becoming Her 

11 July 2026 – 15 August 2026

Whitestone Gallery Hong Kong

(11 July 2026, Hong Kong) Whitestone Gallery is pleased to present Becoming Her, a group exhibition that brings together the practices of Rebecca Bernau, Azuki Furuya and Shizuka Ando—three artists who approach the figure not as a fixed subject, but as a site of transformation. Across painting, collage, and hybrid processes, their works unfold a quiet yet persistent inquiry into how the self is formed: through memory, through material, and through the unseen forces that shape perception and belonging.

Rebecca Bernau's practice navigates between digital and analog, creating fluid compositions in which figures dissolve into their surroundings. Her layered forms evoke the interplay between past and present, conscious and unconscious, offering a vision of identity as continuously in flux. Central to her practice is the notion of "roots," through which she explores the interconnectedness of past and present selves.

Azuki Furuya's practice is grounded in a materially intensive process of collage and sanding, in which layered sheets of paper are built up and gradually uncovered. Her process reveals the body as a stratified surface, where histories accumulate and are exposed, echoing the fragility and resilience embedded in representations of women across time.

Shizuka Ando's paintings explore the ambiguity of selfhood through figures that remain deliberately indeterminate. Her figures, often faceless or softly obscured, resist singular definition, suggesting a self that exists between roles—performed, observed, and internalized. Drawing from both personal narrative and broader existential questions, her work reflects on identity as something enacted and perpetually in formation.

The exhibition title, Becoming Her, references a philosophical and feminist framework in which identity is understood as a process rather than a fixed state. Echoing Simone de Beauvoir's seminal assertion that womanhood is not innate but constructed, the exhibition situates the female subject as an evolving condition—one informed by lived experience, cultural context, and embodied memory.

Presented together, the works of Ando, Furuya, and Bernau articulate a shared sensitivity to the unseen dimensions of identity. Through their distinct approaches to form and material, they offer a space for reflection on the complexities of becoming—where the figure is not defined by what is visible, but by what remains in flux.

About Rebecca Bernau

Rebecca Bernau is a contemporary artist whose work delves into themes of identity and human connection. She merges digital techniques with the tactile qualities of hand-painted elements, exploring the balance between the tangible and intangible aspects of existence. Bernau’s creative process begins with digital painting, where she experiments with colors, shapes, and compositions. Once she has developed a concept, she transfers it to canvas using high-quality printing techniques and adds intricate layers of acrylic and oil paint to enhance depth and texture. Her artwork is marked by vibrant color palettes and dynamic forms, evoking themes of vulnerability and resilience. A central theme in her work is “Roots,” through which she examines the influence of past experiences on present identity, illustrating how history shapes who we are today. Born in Aachen, Rebecca Bernau currently lives and works in Munich.

About Azuki Furuya

Azuki Furuya is a mixed media artist based in Tokyo. She studied art in Tokyo and London, then graduated with an MFA from Brooklyn College in 2019. After drawing the composition from a photograph, she builds it up with layered bits of colored paper and fragments of the photograph, then meticulously sands down the papered surface until it is exposed like a derelict billboard, and paints inside and around the contours. The patterns and colors are derived from their backgrounds, the layers become geological formation of their lives, shaved layers express vulnerability and weakness and lastly coloring empowers the subject and work.

About Shizuka Ando

Born in Chiba in 1991. Graduated from Tama Art University with a degree in Japanese painting in 2018. Known for unique portraits with multiple, objective perspectives that incorporate the gaze of both self and others at certain “moments” in life, her works embody a multifaceted, objective perspective. The figures she depicts carry introspective expressions, while deliberately retaining an ambiguity that avoids evoking any specific individual. In her early practice, Ando was influenced by Surrealism, which sought to express dreams and the unconscious. Over time, however, she became strongly drawn to the “primitive yet delicate” duality inherent in natural materials used in Nihonga, such as mineral pigments and hemp paper. She gradually integrated these qualities into her own worldview, developing a style that could be described as 'shinshin gōitsu' — a 'unification of body and mind'. Her paintings precisely reveal a melancholic sense of the times and have been consistently well received in every exhibition.

Exhibition period: 11 July 2026 – 15 August 2026

Opening reception: 3-6pm, 11 July 2026 (Saturday)

Address: Whitestone Gallery, 7/F, M Place, 54 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong

Whitestone Gallery is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm

(Sunday by appointment only, closed on public holidays)

For further enquiries, please contact:

info@whitestone.hk / +852 2523 8001

About Whitestone Gallery

Founded in the heart of Tokyo, in 1967, Whitestone Gallery has been a pioneer in the Japanese art gallery scene. Whitestone opened Karuizawa New Art Museum in 2012, as a rare form of private museums in Japan. Since 2015, Whitestone Gallery has set up galleries in Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Beijing and Seoul, cultivating the art market in Asia. In 2025, the Hong Kong space relocated to the emerging art district of Wong Chuk Hang, further expanding its influence. Working with the renowned architect Kengo Kuma on multiple projects, the keen aesthetics render Whitestone’s philosophy and vision for exhibiting modern and contemporary art. Whitestone’s mission has been clear from the start, to support established artists from around the world and promote young talents, while simultaneously expanding its international market and influence.