ABOUT

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Yuyu R. Yamashita (b. 2003) explores themes of vulnerability, connection, and emotional distance—particularly the tension between the desire to be seen and the instinct to withdraw. She primarily works with oil paint and charcoal, drawn to the way they support ongoing adjustment and patient reflection throughout the process.

The faces she paint reflect moments when people are entirely unguarded, when all the muscles in their face have gone slack, and they return to their state of simply being “off.” In that state, the expression itself carries no fixed mood. They might be thinking about dinner, drifting into a daydream, or confronting something rather heavy. What fascinates her is this in-between space: when a person slips out of performance and back into their own mind, no longer conscious of being perceived.