node hotel in Kyoto is presenting a two-artist exhibition featuring Mana Kawamura and Sayaka Hanafusa from February 19 through March 22, 2026. The exhibition takes place in the hotel's first-floor gallery space, continuing the venue's mission to integrate art into everyday living experiences.
About the Artists
Mana Kawamura studied literature at Waseda University before entering the corporate world. After working in business, she enrolled in the graduate program at Kyoto University of the Arts to pursue painting. Her work explores language as a motif, drawing inspiration from literary works to create paintings that examine how words both perceive and transform our understanding of the world. In 2025, she received the Grand Prize at the Gunma Youth Biennale 2025.
Sayaka Hanafusa won the top prize at VOCA Exhibition 2013 at the youngest age in the award's history. Her paintings feature soft pastel colors and bold compositions that utilize architectural perspectives of interior spaces, creating works with distinctive rhythm and a sense of lightness and comfort. After receiving support from the Pola Art Foundation for a research residency in France, she relocated to Nagi Town in Okayama Prefecture. There, she continues her artistic practice while contributing to the local arts community through curatorial work.
Exhibition Details
Date: February 19 (Thursday) – March 22 (Sunday), 2026
Hours: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Open daily during exhibition period)
Venue: node hotel
Address: 461 Toroyama-cho, Shijo Nishitoindoin-agaru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075-221-8800
Organizer: CANATA Co., Ltd.
Planning: Hatch Co., Ltd.
Cooperation: Voyages Co., Ltd., Yuge Roastery
Admission: Free
Reception: Saturday, February 21, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM (Artists scheduled to attend)
Special Event: Saturday, March 7, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM – Enjoy viewing the artworks while sampling coffee from Yuge Roastery
Mana Kawamura | Artist Profile
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1995
2018 – Graduated from Waseda University, Department of Literature, Japanese Language and Literature Course, specializing in modern literature
2023 – Completed Master's degree at Kyoto University of the Arts, Graduate School of Arts, Department of Fine Arts, Oil Painting Major
Kawamura creates paintings based on poems and prose she writes herself, as well as works from Japanese modern literature. Her subjects include scenes that emerge from text and the written characters themselves. Her interest lies in how language serves as a means of perceiving the world while simultaneously possessing the power to transform it. Working from a foundation of language, she explores through visual expression the sensations and impressions that words alone cannot capture.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 – "mtk+ vol.18 / Mana Kawamura" at MtK contemporary art .S store (Kyoto)
2023 – "And So the Day After, and the Day After That" at haku kyoto (Kyoto)
Awards
2025 – Gunma Youth Biennale 2025, Grand Prize
Sayaka Hanafusa | Artist Profile
Born in London in 1988
2012 – Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Painting, Oil Painting Major
2014 – Completed Master's degree at Tama Art University, Graduate School of Art, Department of Painting, Oil Painting Major
Hanafusa explores the relationship between "inside and outside" through interior and exterior spaces, using "frames" such as windows, mirrors, and paintings-within-paintings as points of reference. Rather than depicting interior and exterior spaces as completely separated by walls, she attempts to create representations where these different spaces softly intersect and move between one another on a single picture plane.
While her primary goal is to explore the relationship between her own interiority and others through painting, she simultaneously works to engage viewers by making them conscious of both the inside and outside of the picture plane.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025 – "Shikano Art Festival" at Art Couture Shikano (Tottori)
2021 – "Beyond the Window Frame" at Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art (Okayama)
2018 – "Collecting time" at Usine Kugler (Geneva, Switzerland)
2016 – "SHINE" at Dai-ichi Life South Gallery (Tokyo)
2015 – "ARKO" at Ohara Museum of Art (Okayama)
2013 – "Space is Transmitted and Reduced to Color" at Maki Fine Arts (Tokyo)
Awards
2021 – 14th Okayama Prefecture Award for Emerging Artists, Encouragement Prize
2018 – Nomura Foundation Scholarship Recipient
2011 – Shell Art Award, Jury Prize
2013 – VOCA Prize, Best Prize (Youngest recipient at the time)
About node hotel
Located in the Shijo Karasuma area in central Kyoto, node hotel opened in 2019 as a space designed like an art collector's residence, where guests can experience art as part of everyday life. Rather than offering extraordinary luxury, the hotel provides an experience of ideal living.
The hotel's simple aesthetic harmoniously integrates artwork, with authentic furniture and decorative items creating a refined atmosphere. The 25-room property currently displays works by artists including Pierre-Marie Brisson, Tiffany Bouelle, Kentaro Tanaka, Daido Moriyama, and Fumiko Ishiba—both Japanese and international artists active in the contemporary art world.
