no one spoke—

the host, the guest,

the white chrysanthemum

— Ōshima Ryōta (c. 1750)

 

Taking its title from Ryōta’s haiku, this exhibition seeks to embody the moment of stillness, mutual regard, and reverence captured by the poem. Within the context of ATLA’s spirit of simplicity, openness, and community, the artists—Megumi Shauna Arai, Vamba Bility, Nik Gelormino, Christina Kim, Yu Kobayashi, Amelia Lockwood, Noah Schneiderman, Megumi Shinozaki, Sophie Stone, Yoshikazu Tanaka, Greta Waller, and Síta Valrún—are both the guest and the host. Through the lens of hospitality, their contributions invite us to reconsider art and the objects we experience in spaces of intimacy—what is offered, and how encounter unfolds.

 

For some, hospitality takes form through objects and gestures of care. A rug laid on the floor suggests humility and softening, while cushions support comfort and ease in the act of coming together. A hanging textile marking passage and threshold signals both welcome and boundary, creating space for exchange. Vessels become offerings, made to hold and preserve what is shared. Flowers mark thoughtfulness in gathering, their presence honoring temporality. 

 

For others, the idea emerges through duration and perception. Paintings tracing cycles of light and time record the patience of waiting, the quality of attention sustained. Layered works reveal and conceal in turn, like the selective sharing between host and guest: what is revealed, what remains private. Others approach the question through lived experience, carrying the perspectives of movement, displacement, or migration, embodying the position of the guest.

 

Taken together, these works resist a single category and instead echo the haiku's chrysanthemum. They are not simple or unassuming, but distilled and potent, commanding through quiet attention. The exhibition honors objects and gestures that elevate our connection to daily life, beautiful forms that, whether singular or gathered in multitude, accumulate into quiet force.

 

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ATLA and Nichole wish to extend their sincere gratitude to the artists, individuals, and galleries whose generous collaboration made this exhibition possible.