Kumi Yamashita’s new solo exhibition at the Flinn Gallery curated by Leslee Asch showcases exquisite portraits, but hers are not traditional or easy interpretations of human subjects. There are the entrancing features that capture our attention. However, Yamashita is here to show us a larger picture, a way to connect the countenance with the collective, the parts to the whole. To do this, the artist employs unusual materials in her work, casting light to make shadowy forms from found objects or networking a single thread along hundreds of nail posts to make a facial matrix. In some ways, her art is as much about the final arrangements we see as the resources that make them.

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0-9, one work on display from the artist’s “Light & Shadow series,” is made from a spartan scattering of white wooden numerals, creating a sense of sculptural relief. In no discernable order, machine-carved 8s, 3s, 1s, 2s and so on fill the wall in disarray. They look like a handful of dice rolled out by a gambler, exploding from right to left.........

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