Moe Masui Solo Exhibition “Snell’s Mirror”
at Ginza Tsutaya Books
September 13 (Sat) – October 3 (Fri), 2025

Moe Masui consistently explores the fusion of human forms with familiar, everyday objects through wood carving.
In this exhibition, themed “Refraction,” she presents works in which the shapes of mirrors and washstands merge with the human figure.

Wood, as a material, neither reflects nor transmits light. Yet by layering the contours of mirrors or the curves of a basin onto the body, Masui gives rise to a one-of-a-kind “mirror” that neither reflects nor refracts in the ordinary sense.
It is as if these works are gentle devices that bend our gaze and consciousness.
Through the interplay of these fused forms, visitors are invited to spend time reflecting on the very act of how and what they see.


【Artist’s Statement】

Every day, we wash our face at the basin and gaze into the mirror.
What appears there should certainly be ourselves, and yet at times we wonder: whose eyes am I really seeing myself through?

When light passes through water or glass, it does not travel straight but bends slightly.
This natural phenomenon is known as Snell’s Law.
To me, it feels like a metaphor for the subtle distortions in our self-image.

In “Snell’s Mirror,” I seek out this notion of refraction—the shifting between seeing and being seen—through familiar places such as the mirror and washstand.


Organizer: Ginza Tsutaya Books
Cooperation: gallery UG

Featured Work on DM:
Compact Mirror – Rotating Slide / Camphor wood, coloring, tin leaf / H23 × W20 × D17 cm / 2025