Public Window: Sagan Editions – Practicing Ohr, Naomi Yasui

Public Studio is pleased to host three new exhibitions curated by Sagan Editions. see what happens is a series of three solo exhibitions curated by Sagan MacIsaac featuring artists Darby Milbrath, Naomi Yasui and Laura Mccoy in Public Window. Happenstance, play, and pleasure emerge in the multi-disciplinary works, which include ‘failed’ ceramic vessels by Yasui, a ‘boldly linear’ hand-painted installation by Milbrath and ‘poetically impulsive’ sculptural works by Mccoy. The artists will mount these new site-specific works to the Public Window space.

Practicing Ohr, Naomi Yasui
September 30 – November 4, 2016

As a ceramic artist, working in sculpture, performance and installation, Naomi Yasui’s conceptual practice revolves around process, form, and happenstance.  Her work enforces the notion of an aesthetic and spiritual pursuit rather than a concrete objective, lending insight into an ongoing practice.  Focusing on the act of making as an extension of sentient being, she explores the intimate bond between maker and object. Yasui uses the abstraction of traditional techniques to exercise artistic expression, to place side-by-side the domestic object and conceptual art.

Yasui studied Material Art and Design at the Ontario College of Art and Design.  She has exhibited nationally and internationally.  Recent solo exhibitions include Chapter IV: Painting with Fire presented at ESP Gallery, Toronto (2014);Chapter XI: Vases at Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto (2013); and Wardens Abroad at Sur la Montagne (with Heather Goodchild), Berlin (2012). Recent group exhibitions include The Japaense Canadian Cultural Centre, Toronto (2015); Narwhal Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto (2014); The Power Plant, Toronto (2013); and Battat Contemporary Gallery, Montreal (2013) Yasui was granted an artist-in-residence placement at Guldagergaard in Skælskor, Denmark in 2014. In collaboration with Heather Goodchild, Yasui runs the online project The Wardens Today.  She lives and works in Toronto, Canada.