Bibliography & CV

Born in Yokohama, Japan, Yori immigrated to Australia in the year 2000. She finished the Master course at The National Art School (NAS), majoring in printmaking.

Her work interprets Japan’s native nature aesthetic, which colours her perspective with its placement of nature at the centre of its philosophy. Specifically, she is influenced by Shintoism and Zen Buddhism, the latter teaching the beauty of imperfection in nature which is an important part of her aesthetic. Her current projects are based on the integration of her aforementioned Japanese aesthetic and philosophy, with her experience of Western culture.

Yori’s landscapes immerse us in her experience of nature which is imbued with memory, colour, emotion, and the ineffable spiritual presence, influenced by her Japanese heritage. This last element is particularly felt in her landscape paintings, suffuse with a soft, white light; or in the flush of pink of the sky at dawn. She also creates works using printmaking techniques and hopes to extend her practice to other media.

Japanese traditional colour themes are a prominent element in her work, as is the universal semiotic breadth of colour: its cultural and religious connotations; how it conjures feelings of nostalgia; and also its ability to stimulate other senses (synaesthesia). Her investigation has also extended to the history of colour and the manner in which it came to be ordered and assigned to signify wealth and social status, as in former centuries when an augmented status was ascribed to pigments such as purple, because of its scarcity. Talismanic power has also been attributed to colours such as red which in Japan is still used today ceremonially to ward off malevolent spirits and disease.

In Yori’s works, she presents nature’s harmony through particular colour combinations inspired by the seasons, as well as being derived from Western colour compositional theories. With that said, she interprets these combinations within the context of the laws of Japanese colour symbolism.In Floating Series, for instance, the white, negative space surrounding the coloured, organic shapes is expressive of ‘the sacred’ according to Japanese tradition.

The abstract forms are also derived from her Japanese influence as she meditates before beginning her work, contemplating nature. This is a process based on Zen practices and began in her childhood at the instruction of her Zen calligraphy teacher. In Buddha’s doctrine, Zen meditation is central to the search for a definition of life and emphasises the importance nature. Similar to the effect of the Zen Koans, Yori’s works affect calm and clarity of mind upon her viewer, analogous to a meditative state.

 

– Zoe Harrington, freelance writer / former editor of Sculpture + Enemies

EDUCATION

2009 – 2013          Master of Fine Arts Degree, National Art School, Sydney, NSW

2008                      Bachelor of Fine Arts, Honours Degree, National Art School, Sydney, NSW

2005 – 2007          Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, National Art School, Sydney, NSW

1989 – 1991          Diploma of Space Design, Tokyo Designer College, Tokyo, Japan

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018            Cross Currents, Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Waverley Council, NSW

2017            Song of There and Here, Gallery 43, Wagga Wagga, NSW

2013             MIXING COLOURS, Building 5, National Art School, Sydney, NSW

2011             Still Lives, Join exhibition, NAS Award Exhibition with Lauren Murphy, Australian Galleries, Sydney, NSW

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2017             Whyalla Art Prize, Port Adelaide, SA

                         Art Extravaganza, Brisbane Macgregor Lions Club, Brisbane, QLD
                         Lethbridge 10000 Small Scale Art Award (Online), Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane, QLD

2015            Albany Art Prize, City of Albany, WA

                        ILLUMINATED ARTISTES BAZAAR – Syrian refugee fundraising exhibition, Tap Gallery, Sydney, NSW

                        Corangamarah Art Prize, Red Rock Regional Gallery, Cororooke, VIC

                        Lethbridge 10000 Small Scale Art Award (Online), Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane, QLD

                         Hell-o Arts Festival, 107 Projects, Sydney, NSW

2014             upstairs and downstairs, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2013            washed up (hung to dry), Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Sydney, NSW

                         Postgraduate Show, National Art School, Sydney, NSW

2011             Shelf-life, Delmar Gallery, Sydney, NSW

                         Inori, Japan’s Earthquake Charity Exhibition, Masuda Gallery, Sydney, NSW

                         Still Lives, NAS Award Exhibition with Lauren Murphy, Australian Galleries, Sydney, NSW

                          Present Tense, China Heights, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW

                          Books….beyond words, East Gippsland Art Gallery, Bairnsdale, VIC

2010            Art Bound, Gallery Red, Sydney, NSW

2008            National Art School Honours Show, National Art School, Sydney, NSW

                        The Fifth Biennial International Miniature Prints, Vancouver, Canada

2007             National Art School Degree Show, National Art School, Sydney, NSW

                         Drawing Graduate Exhibition, National Art School, Sydney, NSW

                         The Capital Project: Works on Paper, Han Jun Arts Centre, Hongik University, Korea

2005            Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA

                        Whyalla Art Prize, Port Adelaide, SA

 

AWARDS AND PRIZES

2017           Finalist, “Whyalla Art Prize”, Port Adelaide, SA

                      Finalist, “Lethbridge 10000 Small Scale Art Award”, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane, QLD

2015           Finalist, “Albany Art Prize”, City of Albany, WA

                       Finalist, “Corangamarah Art Prize”, Red Rock Regional Gallery, Cororooke, VIC

                       Finalist, “Lethbridge 10000 Small Scale Art Award”, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane, QLD

2009           Finalist, “Books….beyond words”, East Gippsland Art Gallery, Bairnsdale, VIC

2008           Finalist, “The Fifth Biennial International Miniature Prints”, Vancouver, Canada

2007           Winner, “Australian Galleries Works on Paper Award, Outstanding Achievement Printmaking” by Australian Galleries at the National Art School Graduation Show, NSW

2005           Finalist, “Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize”, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA

                       Finalist, “Whyalla Art Prize”, Port Adelaide, SA

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Albany Art Prize”, exhibition catalogue, City of Albany, WA, 2015

“Postgraduate Show”, exhibition catalogue, National Art School, NSW, 2013

“Books….beyond words”, exhibition catalogue, East Gippsland Art Gallery, Bairnsdale, VIC, 2009

“National Art School Degree Show”, exhibition catalogue, National Art School, NSW, 2007

“The Capital Project: Works on Paper”, exhibition catalogue, Han Jun Arts Centre, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea, 2007

Exchange Prints Portfolio, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 2007

Exchange Prints Portfolio, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 2007

“Waterhouse National History Art Prize”, exhibition catalogue, Adelaide, SA, 2005

 

COLLECTIONS

Private collections, Sydney, NSW, Adelaide, SA, Canada, and Yokohama, Japan