We are thrilled to introduce Nobuhito Nishigawara, debuting his first solo exhibition with Luce Gallery Qualia.  Opening May 8, the show will display unique ceramic artworks, including a custom installation conceived specifically for the gallery space. Deeply conceptual and autobiographically, each intricate work reads like a visual diary entry, capturing moments of deep introspection in elegant forms. By combining advanced ceramic techniques, Nishigawara translates personal spiritual and mental relationships of change, reflection, and neutrality into alluring physical vessels rich in texture and hue. Viewed collectively, the detailed sculptures in Qualia create a mood-altering state of calm, inviting viewers to pause, observe, and—ideally —learn more about themselves through their unique reactions to each work and its spatial placement.

Both the series and exhibition title, Qualia, engages with the Japanese concept of MA - the pause, the space between - inviting a quiet reflection through intentional ambiguity. Each instance is deeply personal and unique, whether it’s our reaction to the color red, the resonance of music, a pungent smell, or the sting of cold weather. The range of interpretations make our human experience profoundly individual. Nishigawara uses this concept as a framework to explore and question his fundamental experiences and to search for a definition of self.

As a Japanese immigrant who has lived abroad since the 1990’s, Nishigawara often grapples with questions of identity— especially, what is it to feel Japanese? Many of the works on view stem from memories of his time in Japan, drawn from hazy recollections or old photographs. These memories are often translated through color: deep blues evoke the Pacific Ocean or vibrant cloudless skies; black recalls volcanic stone or the darkness of earthquakes; red as accents in temples; while soft pinks infer cherry blossoms in bloom.  As an inherently ambiguous concept Qualia mirrors his own multi-faceted identity. It is within this duality that he defines himself - MA in between inner self and outer self.

Material experimentation, hue, and texture are essential to his practice and to his deeper investigation of the ceramic medium. Each sculpture becomes a composition in clay—a specific thought or moment captured in physical form. Just as thoughts shift and mutate, so too does the material during firing: shapes may slump, colors change unpredictably, and textures melt. These changes are welcomed, serving as reminders of the illusion of control and the value of embracing the unpredictable nature of thought made tangible.

In Qualia #7, we see a harmonized mixture of piled clay ribbons and dewdrop textures accentuated by shades of pink unfurl across a pale white disk. While its precise emotional source remains ambiguous, viewers may interpret it as a merging of two perspectives: a tightly wound strand of long, rambling ‘thought’ atop a surface scattered with beaded droplets, perhaps representing jumbled or fragmented memories emerging from beneath. The viewer is encouraged to explore these contrasts, drawing their own conclusions and reflecting on why their thoughts wander where they do.

The strength of Nobuhito Nishigawara’s work lies in his boundless curiosity —both in his commitment to ‘qualia’ and in the expressive capabilities of clay. His diaristic exploration of visceral memory, identity, perception, and contemplations of philosophical vastness transforms the physicality of clay into complex and alluring vessels of thought. For Nishigawara, the material poses as a type of therapist—anchoring him, focusing the mind, and translating complex emotional terrain into abstract, tactile forms where there is no limit for exploration and experimentation.

Nobuhito Nishigawara (Japanese, b.1974) is an Anaheim-based artist working in ceramics. He began his artistic studies at the University College of Fraser Valley, British Columbia, later earning a BFA in ceramics from Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Arizona State University. His work has been featured in notable solo exhibitions throughout the United States including the Bakersfield Museum of Art in California, as well as numerous group exhibitions internationally. Nishigawara is a distinguished Professor of Ceramics in the department of Visual Arts at California State University in Fullerton, where he currently leads as head of the ceramics program. His work is held in private collections worldwide.

‍