Nakatomi Hajime's First US Solo Bamboo Exhibition Opens at TAI Modern

TAI Modern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened Nakatomi Hajime's first solo exhibition in the United States on June 26, 2025. The show runs through July 25, 2026, and features works from five series developed over more than two decades: Prism, Musubi, Auspicious 8, Frill, and FLY. Nakatomi's practice is driven by the question of what it means for bamboo not to look like bamboo. He deliberately avoids emphasizing traditional material qualities or classical techniques, instead expressing bamboo's beauty through unconventional colors, shapes, sizes, and materials. Recent works incorporate other materials such as gold. Nakatomi has noted that viewers often murmur, 'Is this really bamboo?' because his pieces are designed not to resemble bamboo.