The exhibition brought together a suspended A1-format work, 20 cm square panels, and a series of small mixed-media works.

Presented at Akagi Shrine in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, in May 2026, Oni as Guardian marked Kae Kishimoto’s first solo exhibition devoted to Oniko, a recurring oni figure in her artistic practice.

Rather than portraying the oni solely as a symbol of fear, Kishimoto reinterprets it as a guardian presence and a figure associated with boundaries. The exhibition brought together a series of small mixed-media works created on wooden panels using washi paper, pigments, acrylic paint, and gold detailing. Dominated by shades of red, pink, white, and gold, the works evoke the visual language of prayer, protective talismans, and ritual objects, while creating a quiet sense of tension within the space.

Installed directly on tatami and presented on red cushions and a traditional sanbō display stand, the works entered into dialogue with the stillness and devotional atmosphere of the shrine. Repeated images of Oniko formed a visual rhythm across the installation, while subtle variations in texture, collage, colour, and surface gave each panel its own distinct presence.

Through this intimate arrangement, the exhibition explored how a familiar figure from Japanese folklore might be reimagined not as a monster to be feared, but as a contemporary guardian watching over the threshold between the sacred and the everyday.