Yasuyo

(b. Kyoto) 

Born in Kyoto, Yasuyo moved to Tokyo after graduating from university to work as an artist and illustrator. She worked with a variety of clients ranging from department stores, brands, magazines and books, creating illustrations that depict women and modern life. In 2011, Yasuyo returned to Kyoto to build out a career as an abstract expressionist artist.

Her work as an expressionist is defined by the absence of a set purpose. Instead, Yasuyo characterises her practice as a journey that has no particular destination, allowing her to organically land upon the direction of her new work. As Yasuyo puts it: “although one encounters light and darkness in life, it is through this journey that one is able to encounter aesthetic moments you might never have experienced: at your feet, in the clouds, or even hanging from a tree without any visible form.

Through a cycle of repetition — drawing and then destroying the artwork — Yasuyo elevates her work above the conscious and unconscious. This process allows her to conjure new forms and figures within her work: “as I repeat this process in each piece, I discover not only unexpected movement of the brushstrokes, but changes in myself and who I am. It’s as if the brushworks, pens, colours and a range of physical and mental challenges are dancing in order to create new aesthetic harmony.” Yasuyo invites her audience to join her in leaning into this transformative power of art to discover someone you never knew within yourself.”