In his debut US solo exhibition, Brazilian artist Rafael Hayashi transforms fear from a private struggle into a sacred and restless act of guardianship, painting figures that stand at the threshold between childhood terror, paternal love, and mythic protection. Hayashi’s images of blurred faces, masked children, primal gods, and vigilant guardians give form to the fears that love creates: the fear of absence, failure, death, and the impossible responsibility of keeping the beloved safe. These paintings do not conquer darkness; instead they create totemic protectors to guide us through it, strange and luminous beings forged from devotion and the courage to remain vulnerable.