The Empty Circle is proud to announce "States of Play," the first solo gallery exhibition in New York City by the innovative artist Tadashi Adamson.

Artist Statement I approach the process of creating as an act of play — a chance to reconnect with a younger version of myself from the days of crayons and safety scissors. Influenced by imagery and objects from my childhood upbringing in Okinawa, Japan, each work is a collage of scattered memories in an often humorous attempt to understand what it means to exist today.

My recent wood panel works are a bridge between my design and painting practices. Trained formally in architecture, I understand paintings as objects rather than surfaces, allowing me to make use of architectural drawing conventions typically reserved for construction documents. Constrained by their thickness, I pushed into and built out of the panels — at times, using the back side of the panels as the primary surface to achieve a sense of depth somewhere between traditional painting and bas-relief techniques.

As a body, my work welcomes viewers into a universe that tiptoes just beyond the edge of reality — where familiar objects and motifs take on the forms of creatures observing our every action. While individually playful and inviting, when experienced en masse, the works spark a sense of eeriness, giving one the slight feeling that they are being surveilled. The works invite you to take a step into their world and see yourself in it.

“States of Play” is a collection of discoveries and experiments, an opportunity to reawaken a buried childlike curiosity. An opportunity to play.

Tadashi Adamson is an artist and designer, who was born in 1997 and spent much of his childhood in Okinawa, Japan. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University in 2020, and is currently based in New York City. His work has been exhibited at the “S/S 2024 Presentation” at Otras Formas, and a solo presentation of his work, “Seeing Inside,” was shown at the SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2023. He has also previously shown at the Noguchi Museum and Cornell University’s Sibley Exhibition Gallery. In 2021, he served as a lead designer on Kenzo Digital’s permanent “Air” installation in New York City. Last year, he founded his own multidisciplinary design practice, Tadashi Studio, which he operates from his workspace in SoHo.

The gallery is open by appointment only.

Please contact matt@emptycirclespace.com for inquiries, images and requests.