The Shape of Light brings three Japanese artists into a small brick building in Holland Park for nine days at the end of August. Entry is free, no ticket is needed, and the work spans Nihonga painting, crystalline glazed ceramics and contemporary oils.
The Shape of Light in Holland Park
Nine days of Japanese painting and glazed porcelain inside an old ice store- Address
- The Ice House, Holland Park, Ilchester Place, London W8 6LU
- Admission
- Free entry
- Starts
- August 22, 2026, 10:00 AM
- Ends
- August 31, 2026 5:00 PM
More about the event
- Yuriko Tanaka
- Nihonga painter working in mineral pigment, ink and handmade paper, originally from Niigata in northern Japan.
- Imahiko Kawamura
- London based ceramicist who trained at Joshibi University in Tokyo, then Falmouth and UCA Farnham, and is a member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen.
- Maiko Tsuboi
- Oil painter, also from Niigata, now working in Tokyo.
- The Ice House
- Built around 1770 to store ice cut from the Holland House ponds, unusual in sitting entirely above ground, and now a small gallery open from April to September.
- No booking needed
- Eventbrite registration is optional. Walk in during opening hours and entry is free.
Three artists, three ways of working with light
Presented at The Ice House, the exhibition sets traditional Nihonga painting by Yuriko Tanaka alongside crystalline ceramics by the London based artist Imahiko Kawamura and contemporary oil painting by Maiko Tsuboi. The three work in materials that behave very differently, and the show is built on what happens when you put them in one room.
Across all three practices, light is treated as a material in its own right. It is reflected off mineral pigment, held in layers of oil and caught inside crystalline glaze.
Two of the three artists come from the same part of Japan. Tanaka and Tsuboi both grew up in Niigata, the snow country prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, where winters are long and overcast. Tanaka still paints in the Nihonga tradition. Tsuboi now works in oils in Tokyo. That shared starting point makes the distance between their finished work more interesting to stand in front of.
Yuriko Tanaka is an accomplished Nihonga painter whose compositions are quiet and carefully weighted, drawing on subjects from the natural world and from human experience. Much of their luminosity comes from the materials themselves.
Imahiko Kawamura is a Japanese ceramic artist based in London. She works mainly in fine porcelain, and her crystalline glazes grow their own patterns inside the kiln. Light moving across the finished surfaces picks out shifting colours and formations that read as flowers, ice, water or rock depending on where you stand. More of her work is on her own studio site.
Maiko Tsuboi works in oil. Her use of colour and light turns landscapes and everyday observations into images that are contemplative and emotionally direct.
What Nihonga actually is
Nihonga is the term for Japanese painting made with traditional materials. It was coined in the Meiji era to distinguish this work from the oil painting then arriving from the West. The pigments are iwa enogu, ground from minerals, shells and historically from semi precious stones. They are bound with nikawa, an animal glue, and painted onto washi paper or silk.
The coarser the grind, the darker and more granular the colour, so a Nihonga painter controls tone partly through particle size. Because the pigment sits on the surface as tiny crystals rather than soaking in, the painting shifts as the light in the room shifts. It is a very different set of decisions from the ones made in Japanese ceramics or in oil, and it is the reason this show works as a group.
How a crystalline glaze works
A crystalline glaze is one in which visible crystals have been grown on purpose. The recipe runs high in zinc and silica and low in alumina, which keeps the melted glaze fluid enough for crystals to form. The kiln is fired hot, then cooled to a holding temperature and kept there, and during that hold zinc silicate crystals spread outwards from tiny seed points in the glaze.
The potter sets the conditions and influences very little after that. Two pots from the same firing come out different. Crystalline work is known for a high failure rate for exactly this reason, and the pieces that survive are effectively one offs.
Making an afternoon of it in Holland Park
The Ice House sits in the northern part of Holland Park, near the Stable Yard, and the walk there is half the pleasure. A few minutes away is the Kyoto Garden, which opened in September 1991 as a gift from Kyoto to mark the Japan Festival held in London the following year. It was designed by the Japanese garden designer Shoji Nakahara and built with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and it has a tiered waterfall, a koi pond, stone lanterns and maples that turn in autumn.
Next to it is the Fukushima Garden, added later, and the park’s resident peacocks wander through both. Entry to the park and to both gardens is free. If you want to build a longer route around the city, we have a guide to the Japanese gardens in London.
The nearest stations are Holland Park on the Central line and High Street Kensington on the Circle and District lines, both a short walk away. The park itself opens at 7.30am and closes half an hour before dusk.
Exhibition information
- Title: The Shape of Light
- Artists: Yuriko Tanaka, Imahiko Kawamura and Maiko Tsuboi
- Dates: Saturday 22 August to Monday 31 August 2026
- Opening hours: 10am to 6pm daily, and 10am to 5pm on 31 August
- Venue: The Ice House, Holland Park, London W8 6LU
- Admission: Free
- Booking: Not required
The Ice House, Holland Park
Frequently asked questions
Is The Shape of Light free?
Yes. Entry is free for the whole run, and there is no charge to enter Holland Park either.
Do I need to book?
No. Eventbrite registration is optional and walk ins are welcome throughout opening hours.
When is it open?
10am to 6pm daily from Saturday 22 August, and 10am to 5pm on the final day, Monday 31 August.
Where exactly is The Ice House?
In the northern part of Holland Park near the Stable Yard, off Ilchester Place, London W8 6LU. The nearest stations are Holland Park and High Street Kensington.
How long do I need?
The Ice House is a small space, so the exhibition itself does not take long. Allow an extra hour if you want the Kyoto Garden as well.
The Shape of Light runs from Saturday 22 August to Monday 31 August at The Ice House in Holland Park. Full details are on the exhibition listing on Eventbrite, though you are welcome to simply turn up on the day.
