These are the works of Kumi Yamashita. By utilizing lighting and simple forms such as letters of the alphabet, children's blocks and shoeprints, the artist brings out the life in shadows. Born in Japan, but living much of her life abroad, Kumi uses a delicate vision to create a simplicity that mocks the life beings. In the artist's own words: "Shadows are a fine medium for someone who believes more in variability ... than in constancy, a stance that may be temperamental as well as philosophical."
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
-- William Shakespeare
Clouds,2005
Light, Aluminum, Shadow
Permanent display at the 3rd floor of Stellar Place Sapporo JR Tower
Commissioned by Japan Railways Inc.
Description: The thin metal object on the wall, lit from above, casts the silhouette of a couple.
Feather,2006
Light, Wood, Shadow
Permanent display at Akiru Municipal Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
Commissioned by Akiru Municipal Medical Center.
Description: The wooden object on the wall, lit from below, casts a silhouette of a figure.
Sunny Days and Starry Nights, 2005
Cloth, Colored Rubber Sheets
Description: The work consists of every national flag of the world sewed together geographically. The celestial symbols and other designs are kept intact while the background is changed to black to resemble the dark universe.
