Quintaesencia (@quintaesenciatrip) means the purest, the essential. It’s not an event, but a manifesto that weaves together Art, Consciousness, and Fashion. To explore the human mind through subtlety, sensuality, emotion, and reflection. Its vision seeks to reclaim humanity’s most authentic values—love, respect, freedom, equality, unity. In contrast to a capitalist, hypersexualized, and hierarchical world and dinamics.
Inspired by the medieval notion of the quinta essentia, a fifth element uniting the four classics (earth, water, fire, and air), Quintaesencia 4 Elements translates this alchemy into lived experiences through this composition:
• Air – Music
• Earth – Fashion
• Water – Dance
• Fire – BDSM
Each edition gathers artists who embody these elements, creating an artistic macrocosm where souls connect. Quintaesencia in Japan at Suigeikan Salon: Suigeikan: A Sanctuary of Art in Kamakura
The Salon de Suigeikan (@suigeikan), 酔鯨館は鎌倉にある芸術家・石丸雅通の自宅アトリエを「Salon de 酔鯨館」として公開しています。 現在は、同じく芸術家でもある息子の石丸運人氏が運営をしています。 Also known as the Masamichi Ishimaru Bizarre Leather Museum, Suigeikan is the home-atelier of sculptor Masamichi Ishimaru in Kamakura, Japan. Today it is directed by his son, artist Kazuto Ishimaru. This unique space merges Japanese sculptural tradition, nature, and mythical imagination. From sculptures that evoke legends to architectural details infused with artistry, Suigeikan breathes creativity and serves as a stage for immersive experiences. The Quintaesencia experience in Japan unfolded here on June 22, 2025. The proposal was presented alongside a Dream Team of artists including Rika, Wataru Shindo, Ryoko, Kiki Cat, Alice, Gongon, Ray Trak, and Lith Li (Quintaesencia Creator) captured through the photographic lens of Yamato Narita, with special guests such as Tokyo’s renowned fetish event organizers Rei Hourong(Salon de Atomage & Compitum) , Asuka K.(Torture Garden Japan), and Yuki S (Compitum).
The artists who shaped the Quintaesencia ‘4 Elements’ edition are the perfect team for the occasion. The event was composed of the 4 elements of nature, with each respective element (music, fashion, dance and BDSM) associated with our atomic composition at Quintaesencia (Art, consciousness and fashion). Each element was associated with an art, and artist, and so together we can reach the purest essence (which is represented by a white rose. As @quintaesenciatrip symbol as a blossoming of a universal and collective consciousness). The composition of the journey was as follows:
Quintaesencia’s lineup of artists was selected because with many of them I’ve already built a friendship after having been together at past events in Japan. Meeting through Art and presence. Like in the case of Rika @rsta.avocado, where we met in Osaka at one of the events she produces.
RIKA; A true powerhouse in Japan’s show club and nightlife scene. She wears many hats—casting director, costume designer, performer trainer, and full-on stage visionary. Currently the stage producer at SM show bar , she brings raw energy and imagination to every single night. She also leads her own performance crew, Morimoto-gumi, where street dance collides with fire, LED, and kinbaku in wild, boundary-pushing shows. Their performances have blown minds not just in Japan, but worldwide. Rika’s work doesn’t just entertain—it hits you in the gut and leaves a mark. Through her I met Ryoko @ryokograph, Riotaros @riotaros811 (Artist with whom we’ve done several Vogue events student from AYA SATO Vogue Icon dancer), Alice @alice22o_, Kiki Cat @kiki_jc, Gongon and @rikas_security with the fabulous, warm and unique TACO.
RYOKO; She might look cute and sweet, but make no mistake—Ryoko’s got fire in her veins. One of the most explosively popular cast members at SM show bar h, she owns the stage as a receiver in SM performance. Turning pain and pleasure into living, breathing art. At the same time, she’s also a photographer with a sharp, instinctive eye. Her shots are raw, delicate, and deeply emotional. Whether she’s in front of an audience or behind a lens, Ryoko has a magnetic presence that sticks with you. She’s unforgettable—a total force of nature.
愛利寿 ALICE ; A multidisciplinary freestyle dancer who blends street dance with erotic freestyle, creating performances that balance power and sensuality. Her art incorporates diverse elements such as fire performance, Japanese rope art (kinbaku), pole dance, and LED light shows, all designed to immerse audiences in a deeply physical experience. She is part of three collectives: Aiga, which fuses street dance and erotic freestyle; Trastic.F, founded by her mentor Felin, which explores provocative and experimental staging; and Morimoto-gumi, a freeform ensemble combining fire, kinbaku, and LED. Across these groups, Alice explores movement as a universal language that transcends form and emotion.One of her highlighted works was themed on Wa—the Japanese concept of harmony and tradition—through a fusion of Vogue and Erotic Freestyle. By combining Vogue’s precision with the bold sensuality of Erotic Freestyle, she expressed a vision of Japan that honors its roots while evolving through global influences.
KIKI CAT; She is a contemporary artist from Tokyo whose work embodies themes of destruction, creation, purification, and spiritual liberation. Through fire, dance, and movement, she channels prayer and vitality, seeking light in spaces marked by pain and transformation. From Tokyo’s underground to international stages, her art explores the ongoing journey of the soul.Her piece The Reincarnating Shadow reflects on the cycles of life, where purity meets inner darkness, and humanity’s continual search to break free from karma and discover the true self.
GONGON; She shapes emotions, hazes, and unspoken thoughts through her body and visual expression. With respect and pride in Japanese culture—such as the concept of Wabi-Sabi—she creates works that are not flashy, but instead carefully evoke the quiet intensity of a fever burning within. Gongon, Kiki Cat and Alice shaped in Quintaesencia the element of water through Vogue & dance as the beginning of the ritual. They moved with traditional Japanese kimonos and then broke into a radical shift with voguing movements and latex outfit changes—an erotic and fetish vision that expressed duality within womanhood. Kiki Cat narrated an esoteric, mystical dance in a mysterious and daring version, approaching the audience from the hidden into the visible.
Afterward, RAY TRAK @raytrak enveloped the space through the element earth, weaving in different musical references with his majestic aesthetic presence. Ray Trak has been present at countless events as a DJ; iconic and unique. I first met him at The CatCave in Shibuya, Tokyo. Rika and Ryoko, through the Japanese art of Shibari SM, spoke to us of trauma and resilience through the element of fire. It was a high-voltage act, both visually and emotionally. The performance carried us from innocence to its loss, in a theatrical atmosphere where each of the earlier performers’ acts took on deeper meaning—feeding into Ryoko’s introspective vision as the submissive part, and Rika’s as the dominant part—together forming a whole, a story many of us could see reflected in our own childhood or youth. To conclude the Trip-story, it ends in an outburst of petals, like the ultimate purity of the human soul, with Lith Li as shibari model and Wataru Shindo as the shibari Kinbaku artist.
The journey began with Wataru Shindo @ruco_inc , with a majestic Visual Kei look, (ヴィジュアル系) in its most elegant form taking control of Lith Li @lith_li_____ with his demonic and iconic aesthetic—dressed in latex, corset, long black dress and masked—posing in various positions in front of that Japanese figure, half-demon and half-woman (which I mentioned at the beginning of the interview) from Suigeikan itself. This figure served as a totem for the model, Lith Li, to avoid getting lost in her stormy, nostalgic, and romantic thoughts, where the truth remained hidden.
The shibari performance unfolded through musical phases such as The Chairman’s Waltz from Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Die Form – Resonance Magnetic Source, and the Blade Runner soundtrack composed by Vangelis… Wataru Shindo guided Lith Li’s journey of liberation, where, with a white rose, everything made sense, concluding with the final musical piece Mad About You by Hoverphoonics. Only those present, and those who resonate from a sincere heartbeat, could grasp its conclusion. Emotional, painful, and liberating—both poetically and as a reflection of current society, a blind System focused on the present, neglecting the importance of the human soul in its purest state. Thanks to Wataru for accompanying me in this; you were the best company among red ropes, red neon lights, and images within my mind for that date.
進藤渉 WATARU SHINDO ; Wataru Shindo is the bassist of DRUGS. He began his career as the bassist for LIPHLICH in 2010. Since 2019, he has worked as a freelancer, playing bass for CRAZY PUNK KID, Hitotonari, and Umiyuri. Since 2021, Shindo has studied under Hajime Kinoko and has been active as a bondage artist, participating in photo shoots, performances, and rope shows. I met Wataru in person at Salon de Atomage Résurrection organized by Rei Hourong @reihourong, with Asuka K. Yuki.S and Ray Trak in Tokyo at the end of May. Since that day we got along well, and we saw that we shared points of view for shibari and the vision in music as well.
Then we see us again in BAR La Vie en Rose. The performative narrative of Quintaesencia in Japan flowed starting between Vogue, and costume traditional kimono changes with an erotic-fetishist vision by Alice and Gongon, the mystical, ritual dance of Kiki Cat, the musical strength of Ray Trak and Lith Li and the emotional intensity of shibari SM by Rika and Ryoko—exploring fire as trauma and resilience. The climax came with the shibari Kinbaku performance of Wataru Shindo shibari artist and Lith Li, a poetic and painful journey toward liberation, accompanied by music ranging from Memoirs of a Geisha to Die Form, Blade Runner, and Hooverphonic for the burst into petals. Quintaesencia is a journey through the 3 parts of the human mind, Art, and Unity. Quintaesencia and its Map (photo): the conscious (white), the subconscious (red), and the unconscious (black). Through this chromatic symbolism, the experience invites reflection on contemporary society, bridging past and present in a living dialogue between art and soul. In its edition at Suigeikan, Japan, the path took the form of the four natural elements: music, dance, fashion, and shibari—expressions guiding the audience from innocence and traditional femininity to hypersexuality, trauma, and resilience. It was an act of creative liberation where each soul could express itself in unity, revealing that we are more alike than we imagine.
The poster, created by design, condensed this narrative: a white rose at the center as a symbol of purity (5th element) and transformation. Surrounded by the four elements. An image that translates into Art what is hardest to express: inner silence. Starting with Quintaesencia in Suigeikan, Japan as the fifth edition. The sixth and seventh editions of Quintaesencia took place in Seoul, Korea. The sixth edition focused on the concept of sorority, titled “SORORITY IN ROPES.” The lineup of artists included three incredible women Shibari riggers: Rika (shibari Kinbaku SM artist, dancer, fire performer) Riotaros (vogue dancer, shibari model, fire performer) who flew in from Japan. And Lady Daphne (shibari Kinbaku artist) who flew in from Hong-Kong. Rika and Riotaros also immersed us in a Vogue erotic dance show and fire performance, where the room was elevated by the artists’ flames. A beautiful synergy was created between women, ropes, technique, emotion, and understanding through this precious art. The ropes can bind, but they can also connect—that was the concept: to unite and empower more women in the same space, (this time in Asia) reaching the lightness of the soul amidst the red lights of thought. This edition took place on July 6th at Chunhee @chunhee.seoul, where I had previously been a guest artist a few months earlier. It’s a wonderful community and a highly recommended place if you’re in the city.
The seventh edition took place on August 24th, at the same venue in Seoul. This edition focused on the theme of sisterhood through Vogue dance, titled “COVEN BALLROOM: The New House,” exploring its origins, empowerment, the figure of the Mother, and a house of artists where, through a bit of magic, we can unite and bring forth a more just analysis of the present moment. Artistically, the lineup included Kiki Cat and Alice who flew in from Japan, who performed in Korea through Vogue, pole dance, LED hoops, and ritualistic dance, inviting reflection on the state of society. The goal was to dance it and create a solid Coven. The audience in Korea was very appreciative, and we were thrilled to connect souls and art once again. The next edition will take place on September 19th in Barcelona, Spain. The movement always tries to focus on Quintaesencia as a free space, and for this reason, we bring it internationally to different parts of the world, connecting souls who are aligned mentally, morally, and respectfully with the energy we cultivate. We will hold the eighth edition with “Dames sur les Decks,”and we have future editions planned in the USA—Los Angeles (for november) and Miami (for december) this year, which we will detail soon. We are very happy to see Quintaesencia continue to grow from the same understanding, in correlation with mind, body, and soul.
The pillars of Quintaesencia are clear: Art, Consciousness, and Fashion, encapsulated as three alchemical vessels sustaining each journey. Consciousness is understood as the immaterial Holy Grail of our time: attention, intelligence, and sensitivity as foundations for a more humane society. Fashion, in the lineage of Vivienne Westwood, is lived as imagination, identity, and purpose. In Japan it was embodied through the Light and Shadow dress code, inviting guests to reveal their own inner duality. Born in 2019, by her creator, Lith Li, the initiative has crossed borders, connecting artists worldwide. Always driven by the same motivation: to create a space where souls meet in essential values and art becomes a tool for transformation. If the essence of Quintaesencia had to be distilled into three words, they would be: Innocence, Truth, and Being. Its final image: a white rose, with its soft petals and sharp thorns, symbolizing the dualities that coexist in human essence.
