Yasue Maetake’s sculpture is approached through the lenses of protoscience, theology, and artisanal creation, using "terrestrial substances" sourced from marine organisms, bones, fossils, metals, polymers, wood, fiber, and quartz. Drawing inspiration from traditional stone carving, she crafts luminous surfaces that evoke the illusion of unforeseen amalgamation, transcending the reality of material melting points. Her work engages with somaesthetics, exploring the interplay between human consciousness and technology, and posits that evolving human consciousness from physical matter could unlock new creative potentials. Maetake envisions materials as living agents experiencing akin to procreation and death, with her sculptures evoking a life cycle that is continually renewing itself. Her art emphasizes the alchemical and immaterial qualities that lie in the ambiguity of the nonrepresentational, whether manmade, natural, or divine.
BIO
Yasue Maetake (b. 1973) is a Tokyo-born New York based artist, originally trained in glass engraving in Japan, the Czech Republic, and Germany before settling in New York City. Her work has been exhibited at numerous national and international institutions such as Espacio 1414 at the Berezdivin Collection, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Queens Art Museum, New York; 10th Sonsbeek, Arnhem, Netherlands; and ASU Art Museum, Arizona, amongst others. Solo exhibitions include Fons Welters, Amsterdam, The Chimney, New York, Microscope, New York, and Nina Johnson, Miami, and others. Maetake’s work has been featured in Sculpture Magazine and reviewed in Artforum, The New York Times, ArtAsiaPacific, FlashArt, amongst others. Maetake was named one of “20 international women advancing the field of sculpture” by Artsy, is a recipient of the NYFA Fellowship in Sculpture, and she also completed a residency in the studio of El Anatsui in Ghana sponsored by a research grant from the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan. Yasue Maetake earned her MFA from Columbia University in New York.