This original capsule toy (gachapon) was created from my encounter with individuals living with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).

It features six mini canvas artworks by HIROMI AOKI.

The machine is installed at the exhibition venue to raise awareness of this rare disease.

All proceeds, excluding material costs, are donated to the Epidermolysis Bullosa patient association.

Patient interaction video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwhPTrf45zc

"Mini Shinkokyuu Exhibition" Gachapon (Capsule Toy)

Scenes so beautiful you can’t help but gaze at them endlessly, immersed in the wonder of nature. Grateful for it all.

Sunset Blue

I'm watching over you. I'm watching over you.

**※Awarded the Grand Prize at JAPAN WEEK in Manchester**

**※Exhibited at JAPAN WEEK (September 3, 2025)**

https://www.instagram.com/p/CuOUzEzSF30/

It's okay

Let's walk together. The way will open up.

  
https://www.instagram.com/p/CuOVD3ZSfIw/
  
  

Come here 

Even if they are not with us, we will never forget how we continue to think of them.

Let's live with love.

  
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZtvdrqp9gU/

The most important thing to me

Fragile, but gentle and beautiful.

Fragile but strong.

  
 ”Artwork Description” : 

This piece was born from my encounter with individuals living with Epidermolysis Bullosa.

 Despite enduring pain every day, they shared that simply having their rare condition recognized gives them hope to keep going.

 Their words and presence were deeply moving and beautiful—forever etched in my heart.
  
  
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvQ\\\\\\\_X45SmX9/

Fragile is beautiful 

【Solo Exhibitions】

* **October 2024** – Tramonto (Ishikawa, Japan)
* **November 2024** – Inumimi Café (Tokyo, Japan)
* **December 2023** – gallery KUSUNOKI (Fukuoka, Japan)
* **April 2023** – space Wazo (Shizuoka, Japan)
* **October 2022** – la galerie (Osaka, Japan)
* **November 2021** – gallery zakura (Tokyo, Japan)

【Group Exhibitions】

* **November 2025** – Special Charity Exhibition for Noto Peninsula Earthquake Relief
* _Locations: Kiyomizu-dera (Kyoto,Japan), Yakushi-ji (Nara,Japan), Zōjō-ji (Tokyo,Japan)_
* **September 2025** – JAPAN WEEK (Manchester, UK)
* **May 2025** – BUNSHUN Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
* **April 2025** – Gallery60NYC (New York, USA)
* **March 2025** – Sandalwood (Tokyo, Japan)
* **February 2025** – The Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo, Japan)
* **January 2025** – Van Der Plas Gallery (New York, USA)
* **November 2024** – Hōryū-ji Temple (Nara, Japan)

【Awards】

* **September 2025** – JAPAN WEEK (Manchester): Grand Gold Prize in Art
* **November 2024** – Featured at 1530 Broadway, Times Square, New York
* **November 2024** – Selected as one of the “Top 100 Artists of the World” – Times Square Art Event, NY
* **November 2024** – Honorable Mention – Art Incubation NY 2024
* **December 2023** – Luxembourg Art Prize: Artistic Merit Award

  
HIROMI AOKI▼

https://www.instagram.com/kumagoma/

Biography

About three weeks before my solo exhibition in Shizuoka, I came across a YouTube video about epidermolysis bullosa, a rare and intractable skin disease. I was deeply moved by what I saw.

To help visitors to the exhibition learn more about this condition, I distributed and displayed informational flyers at the venue. I also created capsule toys based on my artwork, donating a portion of the proceeds to patient support organizations.

In addition, I have spent two years providing care for individuals living with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), and I am actively engaged in raising awareness about the disease.

  
HIROMI AOKI▼

https://www.instagram.com/kumagoma/

Awareness-raising and support activities for intractable diseases

Exhibition Atmosphere

You can explore scenes from my solo exhibitions and activities by scanning the QR code.

  
HIROMI AOKI▼

https://www.instagram.com/kumagoma/

Individual Exhibition Activities

My Journey as an Artist

I grew up under the shadow of a father struggling with a gambling addiction.

From a young age, my home was filled with turmoil, and I began drawing as a way to escape the pain.

The time I spent drawing became the only moments of peace I had.

Since then, art has become an inseparable part of my emotional world.

Whether it was during my brother’s repeated hospitalizations for mental illness or while I myself battled an eating disorder, drawing was what saved me each time.

In May 2021, I happened to show one of my works to a close friend.

He told me, “I don’t know why, but your artwork made me cry.”

It was the first time I opened up to someone about the emotions behind my drawings.

He encouraged me, saying, “You need to show this to more people,”

and that moment gave me the courage to begin my journey as a pointillist artist.

Revealing myself through my art had always been terrifying,

but thanks to the support and belief of those around me, I took that first step.

In November of the same year, I held my first solo exhibition.

Many visitors were moved by my work, and it was then I decided to continue as an artist, hoping that my art might offer comfort to someone else’s heart.

My second solo exhibition in October 2022 was featured in the press and welcomed over 200 attendees—many of them elderly visitors with mobility challenges.

I watched them weep and then smile in front of my works.

That moment made me realize: my art has the power to heal.

Since then, I have held five solo exhibitions, welcoming over 600 visitors in total.

Each exhibition was supported by a successful crowdfunding campaign, raising a combined total of ¥5,243,500.

In 2023, I began advocacy work for rare diseases after meeting individuals affected by Epidermolysis Bullosa and ALS.

I also spent two years caring for Masatane Mutoh, a remarkable creator living with ALS.

In May 2025, I exhibited my work in New York.

Witnessing my art resonate with people from different countries was a deeply moving and irreplaceable moment in my artistic life.

Having once carried deep emotional wounds, I now hope to offer solace to those who are quietly hurting.

Through both my art and rare disease advocacy, I feel it is my mission to help expand a gentler world.

  
HIROMI AOKI▼

https://www.instagram.com/kumagoma/

Artist statement

 ”Artwork Description” : 

Whether you can believe in yourself or not.

If you don't stop, you can find a way.

  
For two years, I was involved in the caregiving of Masatane Mutoh, a creator who continues his artistic pursuits while living with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).

Our connection began when I watched the documentary **"NO LIMIT, YOUR LIFE."**

Despite his limited physical movement, he uses the slight motion of his left thumb and the direction of his gaze to create music and fashion designs through cutting-edge technology.

I depicted the delicate aura he radiates through pointillism, and expressed the warmth within him using pastels.

Through his way of life, I came to strongly believe that there are no limits—and that our everyday lives are filled with small, precious moments of happiness.

These feelings gave birth to my artwork,

**"A World Without Limits."**

https://www.instagram.com/p/C57xIjlJLNi/

A world without limits

Let's jump out into a new world.

Live your life without lies.

  
”Artwork Description” :

After letting something important go in 2023, I painted this piece as my declaration of intent to walking into a new stage of my life.

The repeated layers of lines and colors represent strength, while the countless dots represent softness and the light of hope.

I can always picture in my mind what I feel in my heart.

I express the world that comes to my mind in the form of pointillism, and while many of my works are monochromatic, this one is of a vivid and clear world.

During the two months of production, as I continued to paint, the anxiety and sadness in my heart disappeared.

I was purified by painting the dots.

I was saved by this work that said, "This is where it begins." I imbue it with my prayer that those who view it will also be saved.

※Selected for “Top 100 Artists of the World” at Times Square, New York (November 2024)

※Featured at 1530 Broadway, Times Square, New York (November 2024)

※Exhibited at The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo (February 2025)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CtsiLAwS8be/?img\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_index=1

It starts here

When I realized that I had received life for the first time, I was overflowing with an unbelievable amount of deep emotion, of joy.

It was then that the image of the "Signpost of Life" came to me and I drew a rough sketch.

However, I was perplexed by the changes in my body, which was undergoing a remarkable cycle of cell division, and I felt the bitterness of malaise.

October 10\. The life that I met, overcoming the pain, was nothing short of miraculous. I could not paint for a while, but once childrearing became less hectic, I painted the feelings I had in monochrome (2017).

As time passed, I let go of something big to lead my own life.

From monochrome to color, I completed the painting by drawing forth my freed feelings(2024).

  
※Exhibited works at the World Heritage Site of Horyuji Temple (Nara,japan) "Horyuji Art Festival 2024" (November 2024)

  
https://www.instagram.com/p/DDEAfPoyBb7/?img\_index=1

  

Signpost of Life

The frames were custom-made, and the works drawn in long and narrow, and circular formats were created through pure inspiration.

The other eight pieces are filled with my own thoughts and emotions.

Together, this entire collection forms a unified expression of "identity."

  
**※Awarded Honorable Mention at a juried exhibition in New York**

**※Exhibited in New York (April 23, 2025)**

  
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZtviPHJkEI/

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