10/25(tue) Opening Reception: 7-10pm 10/26(wed)-10/30(sun) Exhibition: 12-6pm(Appointment only on Wed. by email by Tue.)

Yoshimi was raised in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan. After graduating from junior college, she took an opportunity to travel to Southeast Asia, where she lived over the next five years. There she spent time studying artistic practices from a native of Indonesia, primarily dyeing and Chinese style drawing. During this time she experienced color strongly in a way that still reflects in her art today. Returning to Tokyo, she went through the process of collecting art from Southeast Asia, and Indonesia in particular. Since returning to Japan, she has exhibited these along with her own artworks in a variety of galleries in Tokyo, Harajuku, Roppongi, and Southern Aoyama. At the same time, she began studying color therapy. Drawing on her past experiences, she developed a sense for how color can affect the heart. In this vein, she published a digital work in June of 2010 titled, “Color Therapy Card: a message from color ~ to be happy.” Yoshimi also has experience as an art coordinator and a curator. In Yokohama she worked together with businesses to select decorative art for several restaurants and model apartment rooms.

Puzzle is Yoshimi’s first exhibit overseas. The works are strongly based on the idea of decalcomanie, something she first encountered when she came across the art of Shuzo Takiguchi. Decalcomanie in a sense means translocation, the intention is to depict the imagined landscapes of the mind. Uses this technique and adding washi Japanese paper, Yoshimi has created art in search of a quality both varied and in a state of transformation. The pieces are designed as squares of the same size, so that the puzzle-like transformation depends on their layout. Giving each exhibition the freedom to change its structure, Yoshimi hopes Puzzle will be a valuable opportunity to see a variety of perspectives from each person that sees it.

Yoshimi describes expression as something that heals people. And she has made it her mission to convey that through her art. Bringing color to people’s hearts, and learning about the effects that has, it is something she reflects in her own work. And at the same time, it is something that she is still continuing to grapple with.