The Elusive Art of Kumi Yamashita
The Flinn Gallery is honored to launch its 2024-25 season with a unique solo exhibition, The Elusive Art of Kumi Yamashita. Curated by Leslee Asch, the exhibition displays Kumi Yamashita’s works of unconventional vision, versatility, and variety. The Opening Reception will be September 19 from 6-8pm.
Kumi Yamashita uses simple materials to yield surprising results. In describing her shadow work and the elusive qualities of light, she says, “I sculpt using both light and shadow. I construct single or multiple objects and place them in relation to a single light source. The complete artwork is therefore comprised of both the material (the solid objects) and the immaterial (the light or shadow.)”
In addition to Yamashita’s Light & Shadow series, the exhibition includes provocative portraits created by winding a single unbroken sewing thread around thousands of small galvanized nails.
Equally enticing is a piece of denim in which the threads have been systematically removed to create an enchanting portrait. Yamashita describes her process for this piece as, “Sometimes there is something beautiful about things falling apart. Undoing one thing while simultaneously creating another. Here I’ve taken fabric and pulled out bits and pieces of the lighter color thread to create the image.”
Yamashita’s work has been widely praised both nationally and internationally. Her solo shows include the Seattle Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay in Singapore as well as museums in Taiwan, China and Japan. She has been in numerous museum group shows, including the Louvre’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and San Francisco’s Exploratorium.
Yamashita’s work allows viewers to expand their understanding of the possibilities of the varied media she skillfully employs, and the breadth of her vision. Curator Leslee Asch adds, “The work must be seen in person to be appreciated; expect the unexpected.”
Kumi Yamashita lives and works in Woodstock, NY. She was born in Takasaki, Japan, and received her MFA from Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, and her BFA from Cornish College of Arts in Seattle, WA. Yamashita’s work can be found in impressive public collections such as Microsoft, American Express, Le Meridien, Shenyang, China; Tokyo’s Akiru Medical Center, and permanent collections at numerous museums.
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The Elusive Art of Kumi Yamashita opens with a reception
from 6-8pm on September 19.
The Flinn Gallery which is located on the second floor of the Greenwich Library,
101 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT.
The show will run through November 6.
The Flinn Gallery is a non-profit organization sponsored by Friends of the Greenwich Library.
Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm Thursday 10am-8pm, and Sunday 1-5pm.
Events:
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 19 from 6-8pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, October 26 at 2pm