Yui Yaegashi

On view at Queer Thoughts, Yui Yaegashi’s first solo show in New York City unveils a series of small-scale paintings that exemplify the artist’s techniques of process and precision. The artist, who hails from Japan, realizes her compositions through a system of orders. Instead of working from an idea or projected plan, Yaegashi begins by determining the practical elements to be involved in the piece. She chooses the size of the canvas, her color palette, and the tools she will use before determining the precise sequence of applying paint. The understanding that the work takes shape through these series of decisions encourages a closer look at the minutiae that Yaegashi imparts by way of the layers and textures of the pigment.

Take, for example, untitled (2020), in which a filmy sheet of white overlays a grid-like structure of blue stripes. The interplay between opacity and pattern gives an impression akin to glimpsing the background through a sheer curtain. Yaegashi’s handling of these delicate details draws the eye around the canvas, dwelling in the places where color and form blend into one other.