Back in the old days, I remember making shadow puppets with my hands out of boredom, using light to cast a shadow of different animals on the wall. When light is made, so is the shadow. Fascinated by the coexist relationship, Artist Kumi Yamashita creates her work with light and shadows.
Kumi Yamashita (山下工美) was named by her father. The first character ‘工’ means ‘to create or to make’ while the second character ‘美’ means ‘beauty’. The name itself already suffices to tell the characteristics of her work. Based in New York, Kumi Yamashita was once selected as one of the cutting-edge artists of the 21st century, enjoying the same status as that of Yayoi Kusama (草間彌生).
The artist sculpts 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).’ Breaking away from tradition, without any use of paints, brushes and colouring pencils, the artist can already create a stunning art piece that fills people with awe using only a piece of paper and light.
Pieces of colourful origami paper that are creased by hand reveal in shadow different human faces. To Kumi Yamashita, ‘Origami’ symbolises the essence people share in common. We may look different, live different and even have different personalities, but we all share a common shape when ‘unfolded’ like the origami paper.
The artist has been enchanted by shadows and light since she was young. She remember sitting on the front door porch, looking at how the setting sun cast the shadow of the tree on the ground, and observing the changes of the shadow as the colour of the light gradually changed until it faded away. She translates into her work her fascination towards shadows and light, as well as her perception of life.
Even a simple art piece tells us about life. ‘Shadows came to symbolize another dimension of life, perhaps something even more real than its holder,’ said Kumi Yamashita. Our eyes see only things that we understand. In ‘Chair’, what we see is merely a chair when the light is off, but it appears nothing like before when the light is on. Kumi Yamashita’s work brings forward the many faces of truth and humans’ limited perception of the world.
Using ‘shadows’ as a form of art, the artist injects energy and emotions into the shadows she created, making them look and feel natural so that they can speak to the viewers. To achieve that, she starts by spending a lot of time observing people and then photographing their poses. The next step is working out the composition of the shadow. Once it is done, she chooses the right light. After a lot of testing, she begins crafting the sculpture that surprises people all around the world.
Kumi Yamashita draws inspiration from her everyday lives. To keep her ideas fresh, she stays curious about the world and keeps open-minded that helps her step out of her comfort zone. She also explores herself to new things by listening to others’ stories, reading and travelling. In the future, she hopes to untangle her mind and be more conscious of her creations and her life. That’s probably something that attunes to most creators.
Kumi Yamashita: http://kumiyamashita.com/
Reference:
Design Boom: interview with artist kumi yamashita
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