Luminous: The Art of Asia features a gallery devoted to the practice of art conservation, detailing the technical study and conservation treatment of three objects: a Japanese statue from the 14th century, a seated Chinese Buddhist icon, and a small Indian bronze Buddha.

In the case of the Japanese figure, X-ray computed tomography movies of the object will be presented. In this technique, objects are X-rayed while moving through a scanning device to produce thousands of "slices" of the piece. These slices are assembled by the computer to provide a fascinating glimpse of the interior of the sculpture.

Conservators use techniques like this to learn about the preservation state and the history of particular works of art. The tomography was completed in partnership with the University of Washington Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center.