wamono art is   pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in Hong Kong by Seiju Toda, one   of Japan's leading art directors and a fine artist. The exhibition features a   body of works from Toda’s signature HEIAN series.

The title "Heian"   corresponds to a name of period in the middle age in Japan from the 8th to   the 12th Century. However, with the title,   Toda has never intended to provoke any nostalgia for that period. Instead,   such elements as light, color, humidity, air and tenderness that the word   Heian evokes in artist mind are the motivation of the project along with a   hope the world today would reevaluate peace and well-being, that are just   what the word Heian means. The concept of the creation is   "subtraction." Because the act of subtraction, as opposed to that   of addition, can make things simple to stimulate people's imagination. In   fact, this is the very virtue of Japanese spirit of beauty. The materials are   all "raw things" such as plain wood, living creatures and natural   light. The shooting was done on a cloudy day at midday. The camera aperture   is wide open and the distance from the subject is about 7-8 meters. The   images are shot in a way that makes you feel as if you are watching with your   own eyes open. Due to the difficult condition to have, it took three   years of shooting before he accomplished the project.

This HEIAN series is   featured in his solo exhibitions at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in 2005 and at the   Fukui Prefectural Museum of Art in 2023. In 2008, HEIAN's works were   exhibited at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in Japan.

Toda has been challenging himself with a variety of works since he was a teenager. In this  HEIAN series, he pursues simple   expression with the concept of "subtraction", which will invite the   viewers to the new imaginations.