Light and Shadow
Eugene Museum in Bali has announced a collaboration with ISSEY MIYAKE.
By Art+ Magazine Team
Photo courtesy of The Eugene Museum and ISSEY MIYAKE
October 14, 2025
The Eugene Museum, set to open in summer 2026 in Bali, has announced a collaboration with ISSEY MIYAKE, unveiling Light and Shadow Inside Me—a series of works by Eugene Kangawa that will be permanently exhibited at the museum.
Drawing from Kangawa’s seminal photogram series Light and Shadow Inside Me (2022–), the project incorporates a new, technically groundbreaking textile developed in collaboration with A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE. This special body of work will also debut at an exhibition hosted by A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE during Art Basel Paris in October 2025, before being permanently installed at the Eugene Museum.
Left: Eugene Kangawa
Right: Yoshiyuki Miyamae, Director, A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, at Eugene Atelier iii
Japanese multidisciplinary artist Eugene Kangawa and A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE present this project as the culmination of a three-year creative dialogue between Kangawa and designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae and his team. The collaboration began after Miyamae first encountered Kangawa’s painting series during his solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, leading to a series of workshops and conceptual developments.
Light and shadow inside me, 2022–
Gelatin silver print (photogram)
Eugene Museum: Opening in Bali
Located in Tabanan, Bali, within a UNESCO World Heritage area, the Eugene Museum will feature more than 15 permanent works by Kangawa, including paintings and installations—both existing and newly commissioned. The initiative was started by a community of Asian art collectors and is being developed in partnership with a local organization.
A sketch of the Eugene Museum in Bali, a permanent museum under construction by collectors.© Andra Matin © Eugene Kangawa / EUGENE STUDIO © Eugene Museum in Bali 2024
Designed by renowned Indonesian architect Andra Matin, the museum will cover over one hectare, with 5,000 square meters dedicated to facilities and exhibition space, including more than 15 galleries. Visitors will also have the opportunity to stay on-site, engaging with Kangawa’s works as the natural light shifts throughout the evening—offering a meditative experience beyond conventional gallery hours.
Built on revitalized rice field land, the museum’s design preserves existing trees and incorporates terracotta bricks handcrafted by local artisans, creating an organic dialogue between art, architecture, and nature.
Local views and completion sketches of the Eugene Museum in Bali, a permanent museum under construction by collectors.
Eugene Kangawa shared: “I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Miyamae and the A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE team for our thoughtful collaboration in translating my artistic vision into fabric, and to Mr. Tane for designing the spatial elements to experience the collection in Paris. Issey Miyake’s human-centered philosophy resonates deeply with my work, particularly in exploring themes of existence. Light and Shadow Inside Me (2022–), which inspired this collection, began as a series of green paintings created with sunlight, using fading as a medium. It later evolved into monochrome photograms made using only paper and light. I am excited to present it alongside the collection in Paris, and for visitors to encounter it at the Eugene Museum when it opens in Bali next year.”
Translating Light into Textile
Left: Light and shadow inside me (untitled), 2024, gelatin silver print (photogram).
Right: © ISSEY MIYAKE INC.
Kangawa’s Light and Shadow Inside Me (2022–) is a series of two-dimensional works created entirely through the interplay of light and shadow. Earlier works used paper coated in water-based dye, folded into polyhedral forms and exposed to sunlight, yielding organic gradations. Later photograms, which inspired the textile project, used photographic paper folded and exposed to artificial light in a darkroom, producing photograms. These works engage light and shadow as both medium and material, reflecting on the nature of existence.
Right: Light and shadow inside me (untitled), 2024, gelatin silver print (photogram). Eugene Atelier iii, Private Collection
Left: © ISSEY MIYAKE INC.
Inspired by the artwork, the team from A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE developed an innovative ‘bit-level’ textile for this collection, reimagining the smallest units of silver particles on photographic paper as an analogy for the intersection of threads in fabric. In translating Kangawa’s artistic vision into fabric, a gradient from black to white is achieved entirely through variations in weaving density—without using different thread colors or dyes—marking an unprecedented development in textile design.
Light and shadow inside me, 2021–
Aqueous dye on paper, faded by exposure to sunlight
Yoshiyuki Miyamae, designer of A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, said: “We are delighted to present an exhibition in Paris in collaboration with Eugene Kangawa / EUGENE STUDIO. A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE has consistently returned to the essence of materials and structure, exploring new possibilities in clothing. For this project, we were inspired by Mr. Kangawa’s aesthetic philosophy, which derives rich expression from the fundamental elements of light and shadow, offering us a new perspective in our creative practice. We returned to the smallest unit of fabric: a single thread. Using only black and white threads, we explored light and shadow through variations in weave patterns and density, translating the phenomena of photographic paper and light into the language of cloth. We look forward to sharing this exploration with visitors in the historically and culturally layered city of Paris.”
