In Gallery I at Thinkspace Projects, opening this weekend, the gallery is thrilled to present Yasuhito Kawasaki’s debut North American solo exhibition entitled Hello Bear-Chan!. Deftly working with both paintings and ceramics, Kawasaki is experiencing a meteoric rise with collectors around the world. Using a casting technique he has honed over years of work, he is known for his trademark sculptures of innocent looking children. While the visuals vary, each is a self-portrait, drawing on some element of himself.
Born in Saga in Japan in 1983, Yasuhito graduated from Kanazawa Art University in 2010 with a Master of Art Degree in Casting. Using the technique of casting that he continued to hone through the years as an artist, he is known for his trademark sculptures of innocent looking children. For the artist, these characters are self-portraits, whether direct caricature renditions of himself or of other people and sometimes animals. In his perspective, one subconsciously sees others as extensions or semblances of the self.
Many of Yasuhito’s self-portraits are influenced by family members, whom he spends the most time with In his works, the inner character and emotions are as important, if not more than the external form. The expressions of the characters, colours, textures and the settings that he creates for each piece seem to narrate their inner thoughts and various states of emotions, each telling their own intriguing story.
