MIDORI.so Bakuroyokoyama Gallery presents happy accident, a solo exhibition by okayama nanami.

okayama works across photography and sculpture, drawing on objects she encounters by chance in her everyday life: fragments of ordinary household items that catch her eye, things collected from places she has visited, and objects passed on to her by others.

For okayama, each object carries its own history, shaped by the coincidences that brought it into her hands. She pays close attention to their textures, colors, shapes, scratches, and functions, as well as the unnamed stories they hold. She brings these different things together, placing them side by side, combining and arranging them so that new relationships begin to appear between them.

Photography and sculpture are not separate practices for okayama, but part of a continuous process of collecting, recording, and returning. She considers photography a way of recording the existence of things, while sculpture returns them to the space of everyday life. In this exhibition, which consists primarily of three-dimensional works, a single photograph is also presented as an object within the space.

Through intuitive decisions and handwork, objects that may initially seem unrelated take on new forms. They can resemble something familiar or become entirely new entities, detached from their original names and functions. okayama is particularly influenced by folk objects made by anonymous craftspeople, drawn to the care for materials, decoration, and playfulness found in works created not as elevated art objects, but as part of everyday life.

In this spirit, she refers to her sculptural works simply as “objects.” Rather than distancing them from daily life, she considers how familiar materials can shift in form and eventually return to the spaces we inhabit. The humor, subtle dissonance, and sense of familiarity that emerge from these unexpected relationships are characteristic of her practice.

The exhibition title, happy accident, refers to an unintended event that leads to an unexpectedly rewarding outcome. Chance encounters, small choices, and even moments of frustration or failure in everyday life can become the starting point for something new.

Marking okayama’s first solo exhibition in two years, happy accident brings together a selection of sculptural works, including new pieces, alongside one photographic work. The exhibition reflects on the connections that emerge as ordinary things are collected, recorded, transformed, and returned to everyday life.

One day, I was caught in a sudden downpour without an umbrella and ran all the way home from the station, completely soaked. It was nighttime, and I could barely see what was in front of me. Then something struck my foot—a small branch that looked like a whole tree in miniature.

My encounters with objects and with people often seem to happen this way. Chance, accidents, the small choices and frustrations of everyday life—I like to think that every moment might someday lead somewhere good.

I hope you’ll come and see where all these chance encounters have led.

— okayama nanami