YASUE MAETAKE

The paper consists of mostly cellulose fibers that come from plants such as tree bark, leaves, and cotton. Maetake's most recent series of Handmade-Paper is often casted into reliefs forms after it has absorbed patinas from wood stains, plants, mold, rusted steel and corroded copper sourced from the artist's industrial sculpture process.

Prior to moving to New York, Maetake studied in Japan and the Czech Republic, and apprenticed with a private glass studio in southern Germany. Today, Maetake continues to evolve and push the boundaries of her practices which involve in many media and formats using both traditional and innovative techniques. Raw materials, such as industrial steel, resin, natural pulps and wood, are transformed through highly tactile processes. To emphasize these processes when utilizing a synchronization method involving natural and cultural forms, she orients this work to anything from Baroque's style classical modeling, digital media, and natural entropic processes such as burning; her methods often encourage the formation of rust and other changes when materials are exposed to different chemicals in the process of casting and welding, among other techniques.

Although Maetake's practice may present features of a fine arts course, her concept also strongly addresses holistic approach encompassing technology, design and craft. Historically, Handmade-Papermaking had a strong relationship to interior design, product design and architecture. It also accommodates all sorts of textile-origin techniques in a long history of how yarn, embossing, sewing, knitting and stitchery can be involved with the chemistry of a natural fiber’s bond. This creates opportunities for Maetake's expression to accommodate filed from fabric art culture at large. For those who wish to participate in the multi-practice dialogue, Maetake's work will provide opportunities to promote awareness of health consciousness-inspired new directions for every kind of system rooted in the cycle of energy consumption, including both mass-produced and one-of-a-kind production, raising the visibility of organic materials in the contemporary art and design world.

While we are mastering computer-aided skills to execute digitized designs from concepts, Maetake's hands-on practice is a productive counterpart. Elevating the viability of such media will provide a potential for synthetic fusion with nature. The tactile and organic process will become a most valuable experience in our lives as they engage in groups, which Maetake oversees with a culturally diverse, real-world approach that will prepare us for their place in what promises to be an ever-changing industry.
 
http://www.yasuemaetake.com