The Illusive Art of Kumi Yamashita at Flinn Gallery

The 2024-2025 season at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich Library opened with a mesmerizing solo exhibition, The Illusive Art of Kumi Yamashita. Walking into the gallery, visitors were immediately struck by the serene, yet powerful, aura of Yamashita’s work, which blurs the lines between the material and immaterial. Known for her mastery in transforming simple, everyday objects into extraordinary visual experiences, Yamashita’s art is a study of how light and shadow play upon our perceptions.

Kumi Yamashita, born in Takasaki, Japan, has exhibited her works in major institutions across the globe, from the Seattle Art Museum to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the Louvre. Her sculptures and portraits are not merely creations of physical materials but are a symbiotic relationship between light and the objects she arranges. As she herself explains, “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).

With pieces from Yamashita’s Light & Shadow series, what at first glance appeared to be a random collection of ordinary objects—a strategically placed piece of paper, a cascade of wires, or meticulously aligned aluminum plates — would, under a single light source, cast stunningly detailed and evocative shadow portraits. The immaterial shadows, with their sharp clarity, almost seemed to be more real than the objects casting them. Each piece invited close inspection, only to surprise and delight as viewers realized that the apparent simplicity of the materials belied the complexity of the final shadow image.

Visitors were also drawn to Yamashita’s intricate thread portraits. These delicate works, created by winding a single, unbroken sewing thread around thousands of galvanized nails, offered a striking contrast to her shadow art. Standing before one of these portraits, it was hard to fathom the patience and precision required to craft such detailed human expressions from something as fragile as thread. The fluid lines of the portraits seemed to breathe life into the gallery, adding an almost meditative quality to the exhibition.

Throughout the space, Yamashita’s ability to make the invisible visible and the intangible palpable was on full display. The exhibition, which felt like a carefully curated dance between form and void, offered visitors an unforgettable exploration of how we perceive the world around us, where the real art lives not just in the objects but in the interplay between presence and absence.

Scroll down to continue reading PLUS see a gallery of photos taken during our recent visit to the exhibition…

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Additional Information About The Illusive Art of Kumi Yamashita at Flinn Gallery

The Illusive Art of Kumi Yamashita is all but certain to become a conversation starter within the Greenwich art community. Yamashita’s work left many visitors with lingering thoughts of how something as fleeting as light and shadow can evoke such lasting emotional resonance.

For those who want to dive deeper into Yamashita’s process, the Flinn Gallery will host an artist talk on October 26 at 2:00 pm. During this event, Kumi Yamashita will discuss her unique techniques, from the delicate process of creating thread portraits to the science and artistry behind her shadow sculptures. It promises to be an illuminating experience, much like her art itself, offering insight into the mind of an artist whose work continues to defy expectations and blur the boundaries of reality.

This captivating exhibition is on view through November 6, so if you haven’t yet experienced The Illusive Art of Kumi Yamashita, be sure to stop by the Flinn Gallery before it closes. Expect the unexpected, and prepare to be entranced by the subtle magic that Yamashita conjures from light, shadow, and thread.

Photos by Marianne D. Koushouris, photographer and Founder/Principal Designer for MDK Interiors. Follow her on Instagram at @mdkinteriors.

Writing by Managing Editor / Content Director, Eric J. Taubert (New England InnkeeperTaubert Gallery). Find him on Facebook at @taubertgallery. X at @erictaubert. Instagram at @taubertgallery.

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