Light has many meanings. It can be hope, warmth, a path forward. It can also be something more fleeting, like a glimmer in the dark or the way glass catches the sun at just the right angle. In HIKARI, San Francisco based glass artist Momo Schafer explored all of these ideas through delicate yet powerful sculptures.

Schafer’s glass Daruma figures were reimagined with a softer, more feminine presence. Traditionally, Daruma symbolize perseverance, their round forms designed to always rise after a fall. Schafer’s interpretations brought a tenderness to that resilience: graceful, luminous, and full of quiet strength. Each work bent and played with light, inviting viewers to notice the subtle ways strength can be fluid, reflective, and even tender.

In Japanese, hikari (光) means light something we chase, something we hold onto, something that guides us. Through her glasswork, Schafer encouraged visitors to see light not only as something outside themselves, but as something they carry within.