…REVERSE SUBTERRESTRIAL (2017) the title of Yasue Maetake’s exhibition at The Chimney, Brooklyn, suggests the dredging up of something buried. Indeed, her site-specific installation produces the strange sensation of plunging into the depths, even as you ascend the vertical space of the two-story structure. The artist’s immersive environment appears in states of both dissolution and becoming, conjuring postapocalyptic visions of slow but resolute regeneration. Maetake’s process is one of productive destruction: beating, boiling, and burning initiate physical transformations in materials that include steel, aluminum, fiber, tree bark, and animal bone. The resulting marks—stains, rust, and oxidation—create patinas and textures that evoke time’s passage, imbuing even the delicate handmade paper constructions with unexpected durability…  

— Paula Burleigh, ARTFORUM

An art installation in a warehouse with scaffolding, torn paper, and abstract sculptures.
People observing an art installation in an industrial-style gallery with exposed brick walls, scaffolding, and mixed-media sculptures.
An art installation involving a large, weathered sculpted cannon and broken, colorful paper leaves on a metal structure against a brick wall.
Broken glass display case with shattered glass fragments and metal structures inside, mounted on a brick wall in an industrial setting.
An artistic installation featuring glass panels, metal frames, and wires mounted on a brick wall with industrial lighting, creating shadows and reflections.
People viewing art installations in an industrial-style gallery with brick walls and exposed pipes. One woman holds a child, while others observe various sculptures and pieces on display.
Mixed media art installation featuring a sculpture made of crumpled and torn paper, sticks, and a tree branch, displayed in an industrial space with brick walls and metal shelving.
An art installation of large, weathered paper and fabric sculptures mounted on metal frames against a red brick wall, with a wooden railing in the foreground.
Contemporary art installation involving torn paper, fabric, and wooden structures against brick walls
A large, textured, abstract wall sculpture with mixed materials including rust-colored and beige elements, mounted on a rustic, exposed brick wall in an industrial space.
A small black building with an open garage door showing an lit interior, against a sunset sky. Snow covers the ground outside and a fence with barbed wire is on the left.