Yui Yaegashi makes paintings using a self-imposed system of rules to create a composition. The artist focuses more on how the paintings will be made, rather than what they will look like, but so far has been producing paintings that are abstract. Yaegashi begins by deciding the size and composition of the work, the color and texture of the paint, what tools to use, and the order for putting paint on the canvas. The works are composed with horizontal and vertical lines on a plane, and eschew curvilinear forms that could be reminiscent of real objects or things, focusing the viewer’s attention solely on the system that produced it. She chooses to make works in a small size so that the viewer can visually enter the painting, and closely examine the layering of paint.
For this exhibition, the artist marks two changes in her practice which may be subtle or dramatic depending on your perspective: the introduction of black paint, and the relocation of her studio from Tokyo to New York City. Despite the social tumult and extreme conditions of the artist’s first year in the city, she has observed a measured steadiness in how she creates her paintings, and sees a parallel to her feeling during a somewhat different crisis that took place in Japan ten years ago. Although her environment may be in a state of instability and flux, Yaegashi’s works and her processes for making them remain remarkably steadfast.
Yui Yaegashi (b. 1985, Chiba, Japan) has had solo exhibitions at Misako & Rosen, Tokyo; Midway Contemporary, Minneapolis; Parrasch Hejinen, Los Angeles; Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago; and i8 gallery, Reykjavik. This is the artist’s first exhibition in New York City.
