'Masaomi Yasunaga: A Certain Trajectory' at Encounters, Art Basel Hong Kong 2026
8 March 2026
"By forming shapes with glaze—an ornamental surface material in ceramics—and presenting a state in which artificial acts are reduced back into something like a natural object, I attempt to express a span of time far greater than what a single human being could ever experience." - Masaomi Yasunaga
Lisson Gallery and Nonaka-Hill Gallery are delighted to announce Masaomi Yasunaga's participation in Art Basel Hong Kong’s Encounters, 2026. Dedicated to large-scale projects that transcend the traditional gallery booth, Encounters returns as a central sector of Art Basel Hong Kong. The 2026 edition present s works guided by a curatorial vision that draws on the Five Elements—a cosmological framework widely found in Asia, with each element designated to specific areas throughout the convention halls.
Masaomi Yasunaga’s presentation includes a series of eight new sculptures that foreground his distinctive approach of elevating glaze—conventionally a decorative material in ceramics—into a primary medium. Titled A Certain Trajectory, the presentation centres on the concept of ‘time,’ a temporal scale extending beyond individual human experience and illuminating a fundamental attribute of Yasunaga’s practice: an incessantly evolving transitional condition, unbound from specific spatial or chronological coordinates. As the vessel forms undergo significant transformation during the firing process, the artist’s intervention and ego are dissolved, making room for a return to nature.
Yasunaga’s presentation continues the artist’s exploration of the influence of time over materiality, and of nature over matter. On his Encounters project, the artist states: “When we confront objects that are separated from us by physical or temporal distance, our perception becomes ambiguous. Attempting to comprehend such encounters, we may instinctively fill the unbridged gaps with our imagination and ideals. This material wonderment seems to resemble the sense of romance felt when we speculate about the greater universe, which remains largely unexplained. Creating this kind of enigma is an important virtue that I strive for in my vessels and sculptures.” Yasunaga’s works transcend visual dating, often appearing to be ancient artefacts or with an uncanny timelessness. Aesthetically, these glistening sculptures are simultaneously primeval and contemporary; objects of human culture which appear as if discovered anew, seeming to confirm the supremacy of nature’s elemental forces over the world of mankind.
Elemental in both origin and essence, Yasunaga’s works are born and transformed in the fire of the kiln. They reflect not only the artist’s technical mastery but also his profound deference to the forces he engages. In creating his sculptures, Yasunaga conceives of himself as entering into dialogue with fire, embracing the beauty of chance introduced through the firing process. He describes ceramic firing as a lifelong fascination—“an extreme phenomenon harnessed for millennia, yet still existing beyond human comprehension.” The molten, glistening vessels presented in Encounters stand as testament to this dynamic exchange between artist and the elemental force of fire.
A Certain Trajectory invites viewers into an imagined past and speculative future, where Yasunaga’s sculptures—seemingly shaped and weathered by earthly forces across centuries—destabilize our perception of time itself.
