Painter and ceramicist
Yasuaki Yamashita has lived half his life in Japan and half in Mexico. His
work encompasses both traditional Japanese ink painting (sumi-e) and works
which combine and contrast Mexican and Japanese concepts, forms and colors. In
the latter -- whether in oil, watercolor, or clay-- one is never quite sure if
the eye is Japanese viewing Mexico or the eye is Mexican viewing Japan.
Whatever the approach,
a recurring theme is the miracle of nature-- often embodied in the surprise of
a new flower. Yasuaki, a child survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bomb blast,
says "we were told that nothing would ever grow in our city again. So
with time, when the first humble blossoms began to reappear, we considered it
a wonderous event."
Largely self-taught,
Yasuaki won the grand prize for painting in Nagasaki City at age 15. After his
arrival in Mexico he received guidance and encouragement from artists such as
Paco Aguila, Pepe Padilla, and Bellas Artes director Elena Olachea who urged
him to continue painting and to explore new techniques.
In Washington, D.C.,
he studied sumi-e with the master "Aisetsu" and ceramics at the
Corcoran School of Art and at the Jill Hinckley Studio. In San Miguel de
Allende, he studies with the ceramicist Juan de Dios Carballido. Works by
Yasuaki have been shown in galleries in Mexico City and Acapulco and at the
Japan Information and Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.
