Hidden Messages: [Though the technique of light on type] : Shadowlands: Kumi Yamashita

Shadowlands: Kumi Yamashita shows us the wonders of cast light and form

Posted by Catherine Gaffney, Tuesday 03 July 2012

Kumi Yamashita’s work has an understandable tendency to go viral. With an ingenius use of materials that draw attention to the shadow-casting capabilities of relatively simple materials, the New York-based artist presents dual and mutually compatible works that are both abstract and extremely naturalistic.

Take, for example, the Fragments works from 2009; each shadow-profile cast by every piece of resin in the series is a portrait of a different individual Kamashita got to know during her travels in New Mexico. Looking at the shadows cast on the wall, they all appear to be realistic representations in the manner of Victorian silhouette-outlines, but solely focusing on the physical piece responsible for the shadow evokes a much more simplified and abstracted image.

Kamashita has always worked with space: “Even when I was young I enjoyed making objects and all through my schooling and various art classes I had to create and make three-dimensional sculpture. So it was a form with which I was already familiar and enjoyed.”

Interestingly, the Post-It-esque quality to the facial portrait pieces, along with the use of toy-like numbers to cast shadows and the puppetry this evokes, masks the extreme spatial complexity involved in the successful and convincing formation of the shadow: “When it comes to the numbers, letters and building blocks that I use in my Light & Shadow work however, those have all been hand made by me. Sometimes I even have to create my own font so that I can get the organic shape I need for the specific work. While they may look mass-produced, they are all individually unique so as to fulfill their specific function.”

Naturally, there are restrictions when it comes to using light as one of her premier tools: “Ambient light is my nemesis! I am always battling light spill (which causes other shadows also) when installing in new spaces. Unintentional excess light or shadow can really destroy the integrity and poetry of the work. The key is to have an environment which can be controlled.”

山下田来未的作品有一种可以理解的倾向，去病毒。随着各种天才使用了提请注意的相对简单的材料的阴影投射能力的材料，在纽约的艺术家呈现双和相互兼容的作品都是抽象的，非常自然。

举个例子来说，该片段的作品从2009年，每个阴影轮廓投下的每一块树脂系列中的是一个不同的个体Kamashita了在她在新墨西哥州的旅行要知道的肖像。看着投射在墙上的影子，他们都似乎是在维多利亚时代的剪影，轮廓的方式逼真的陈述，而只是注重于造成阴影的物理块唤起了一种更加简化和抽象的图像。

Kamashita一直致力于与空间： “即使当我年轻时，我喜欢通过我的学校教育和各种艺术班，我不得不创造，使三维雕刻制作对象和所有。因此，它是一种形式与我已经熟悉和喜欢。 “

有趣的是，报事贴式的质量，面部肖像作品，随着使用玩具般的数字投射阴影和木偶这唤起，口罩参与成功的和有说服力的形成阴影的极致空间复杂： “当谈到我在光影的工作不过使用数字，字母和积木，这些都被我被手工制作。有时我什至要创建我自己的字体，这样我可以得到有机的形状，我需要的具体工作。虽然他们可能看起来大批量生产，他们都是各自独特的，以满足他们的特定的功能。 “

当然，也有限制，当涉及到利用光作为首要的工具之一： “环境光就是我的克星！我一直在争夺光溢出（这会导致其它的阴影也）在新的空间安装时。无意多余的光或阴影真的可以破坏作品的完整性和诗歌。关键是要具有可控制的环境“。