Resonant Creatures with Yu Maeda July 23 2020

Photo supplied by Yu Maeda.

Yu Maeda was born in 1984 in Kumamoto, Japan. Growing up, his major influences were icons of the Lowbrow Art movement, such as Ed Ross and Jim Phillips. He was uniquely creative in his family, as his parents were not artistic.

After moving to the United States, Yu realised the merits of Japanese and Buddhist culture for the first time. He felt the importance of history and lineage, and wanted to expand upon this in his work. Los Angeles was a completely different world to his roots in Japan, and prompted him to explore his identity as a person and an artist.

Now residing in Southern California, Yu has an established multi-disciplinary art practice that includes painting, mural art, graphic design and animation. His work is often inspired by psychedelia, as well themes of diversity and open-mindedness. There is a hope of universality in his work. He is also interested in the design and structure of the world around us, and enjoys drawing comparisons between unlikely elements – such as the similarity between trees and lungs. Yu focuses on creating shape, pattern and form in his artworks and has a particular affinity for circular motifs.

Yu's favourite artists are Tiger Tateishi, Jim Woodring and Keiichi Tanaami. Currently, he's very much enjoying LA-based musician Jeff Parker’s new album, Suite For Max Brown.

Resonant Creatures by Yu Maeda
Outré Gallery Fitzroy
10 July – 29 July 2020