Visual and multimedia artist Junko Yamamoto is sharing her work across Seattle this summer, with two new exhibits entitled All is One at the 4Culture Gallery and Cosmic Web at the J. Rinehart Gallery.
All is One will include an atmospheric installation of over 400 custom-printed cotton sculptures, all hand sewn.
“I had the opportunity to create a temporary public art installation for the Office of Arts and Culture in 2016,” said Yamamoto. “I simplified versions of my painting motifs into vinyl stickers. These images were initially created digitally and later transformed into fabrics using the same data.”
Since 2016, Yamamoto accumulated a significant number of components. “In 2020, I received generous funding from 4Culture for this project, allowing me to hire sewers to support production,” she said. “I personally hand sewed all of the components into one large piece.”
To accompany the All is One exhibition, Yamamoto commissioned audio from Kyoto musician SIMIZ, with whom she previously collaborated.
“In our modern world, instruments are tuned to 440 Hz, but for this exhibition, the audio was recorded at 432 Hz,” she said. “This frequency, known as the harmony with the universe or the Schumann resonance, has therapeutic effects on our consciousness, DNA, and chakras.”
Meanwhile, Cosmic Web draws inspiration from the same source. “We are all made of the same substance when observed at the quantum level,” Yamamoto said. “Everything that exists, as well as things that have not yet existed, are interconnected and energetically influence one another.”
In her artist statement for Cosmic Web, Yamamoto posits that a single energy connects everything in the universe together.
“The interspace between cells that form the human body, and even spaces that look empty at first glance, like a living room’s negative space,” she mused. “Might these not all be individual instances of the energy that binds together the existent world?”
Yamamoto’s explorations into the artistic realm have progressed over many decades, as she has been drawing since the age of three and she knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in art. “My earliest memory involves drawing figures and landscapes and expressing my desire to become an artist to my mother,” she remembered. “For some reason, painting and drawing felt incredibly natural to me, and it was also one of the few things I excelled at.”
Even so, Yamamoto reports that she was slow to commit to art as a vocation.
“While attending art school, engaging in work study and volunteer work under professional artists, a fashion designer, and a musician provided me with valuable insights into the reality of living as an artist,” she said. “While technical training is important, the mindset and perspective shift I gained during this period had a profound impact on my artistic journey.”
But it hasn’t always been easy.
“It has been challenging to sustain a livelihood solely as a working artist, which is why I also have another business to support myself,” she said. “The primary struggle has been maintaining the purity and authenticity of my art, and having a separate source of income helps me accomplish that.”
Yamamoto plans to take a break this summer to refresh her creativity while sharing her current exhibits at 4Culture and J. Rinehart Gallery.
“When you create more work, there is a desire to keep producing because it feels like there is an endless need to express and convey what I truly want,” she explained. “It’s a recurring theme throughout my lifetime that I wish to explore.”
While looking forward to the public events later this summer that will allow her to connect with her spectators, right now Yamamoto is very pleased with how All is One has turned out.
“Through this exhibition, my wish becomes a reality,” she said. “To share the joy of life, regardless of who you are, to resonate with and accept each other’s energy and existence, and to inspire individuals to remember that we are all connected as one.”
All is One runs from July 6 to August 3, with an Artist Talk on July 29, 12pm, at 4Culture Gallery, 101 Prefontaine Place, Seattle. Cosmic Web runs through August 26, with an Opening Reception on August 3 and an Artist Talk on August 19, at J. Rinehart Gallery, 319 Third Avenue South, Seattle.
