“in vitro”
Installation view at Aichi Triennale 2019
“in vitro” 2019
Photo: Ito Tetsuo
The large acrylic frames are hung from the ceiling in the gallery. They looks like large petri dishes. The delicate organdy in the frame is embroidered and appliqued that casts a shadow on the floor. The work of Usui has focused on problems of woman and labor through embroidery and shadows. Her pregnancy made the artist conceive this new theme. Most of the motifs embroidered are associated with babies and families, and are symmetrical in pairs, after the chromosome structure. The title "in vitro" refers to that which happens outside of the body in artificial conditions, often in a test tube. With the progress of science, the mystery around the birth of life has been gradually revealed and elucidated. At the same time, it is also necessary to advance our values judgments, plus ethics, in response to new areas of research that have not been considered before.
USUI Yui
- Born 1980 in Tokyo, Japan
- Based in Saitama, Japan
As a woman living and working in Japanese society, Usui Yui creates work that unravels modern and contemporary history, questioning the viewer about the position of women. In shadow of a coin (2013-2016) and shadow work (2012-2016)--pieces that attack gender imbalances (the "shadowed" side of women and labor in capitalist society) and that characterize her expressive direction--organdy is embroidered with sharp, though at first glance delicate, messages. The very fact that Usui's work is based on women eschews simply observing the history and experiences of the other, rather representing her commitment to attempting to intervene as a party directly concerned--a practice she is currently in the process of developing further.
Selected Works & Awards
| 2018 | VOCA2018, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2016 | Assembridge NAGOYA 2016, PANORAMA GARDEN -Discovering Signs in an Alternative Ecosystem-, Former Minato Dormitory of Nagoya Customs, Aichi, Japan |
| 2016 | shadow work (solo), Oyama City Kurumaya Art Museum, Tochigi, Japan |
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Nagoya City Art Museum
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・7 minutes on foot from Osu Kannon Station on the Tsurumai Line
・10 minutes on foot from Yabasho Station on the Meijo Line