Hanako O'Leary
Yomi
August 28 to October 17
ARTIST TALK: A Conversation with Erin Shafkind
September 20, 2020
(located just down this page)
Yomi is a site specific installation
in which O’Leary uses Japanese mythology both to explore her
own identity, and also honor her Japanese heritage. O’Leary has created a massive, suspended sculpture crocheted from jute,
and its form represents the portal between the land of the dead and living.
“I work with my hands because I believe through them the deepest secrets, oldest stories, and most potent magic of my ancestors are preserved. Yomi is a manifestation of this faith. Translated in English to mean, “the land of darkness,” Yomi is the Japanese term for the underworld. This work was created to honor the story of Izanami. The primordial mother goddess of Japan, Izanami is queen of life and death in the Shinto pantheon and ruler of Yomi. According to legend, she mothered many gods and goddesses until she died giving birth to the god of fire. When her lover tried to retrieve her from the underworld, he was so terrified of her appearance as a corpse that he fled, failing his mission. Izanami then went on to be crowned queen of Yomi, but we are left with no tales of her journey to the throne, or her reign as queen. Her legacy of power and heroinism are lost to history.
I came across this story in 2018 after experiencing an abortion. I contemplated the godlike power of my body. I was awed by its ability to create or deny life. I began to understand the fear our culture holds against those who possess a womb and dare to express autonomy over their bodies. In Izanami’s story, I realized the creative, destructive, and ancestral power that has always existed within me, buried under centuries of shame. Yomi is a meditation turned portal meant to serve as a sacred place where we could contemplate this power that exists within us and around us.
As I wove this I thought about how tightly interconnected our realities are. I began thinking of history as a woven spiral, now I think history is our collective underworld, and the womb is where we hold this history. I create to unearth and celebrate the untold odyssey of wombly power. Yomi is the latest chapter in a much larger story.”
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Installation performance with O'leary Prior to Installation
ARTIST BIO
Hanako O’Leary is a Seattle based artist whose work explores feminism through illustration, performance, and sculpture. She received her MFA in Arts Leadership from the Seattle University, and holds BFAs in both Sculpture and, Crafts/Ceramics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
O’Leary is currently a Resident Artist at Pottery Northwest, and also completed a residency at Seward Park Clay Studio. Past awards include the Minidoka Pilgrimage Scholarship from Seattle University.
She has exhibited her work extensively both in solo and group exhibitions in Washington, Illinois and North Carolina. Her work is part of the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Public Artist Roster, and is included in public and private collections.
As an arts advocate, teacher and administrator, O’Leary has supported many artists, notably through her work as program coordinator for community programs such as Shunpike Storefronts, and the Artist of Color Expo and Symposium.
www.hannyagrrrl.com
Instagram @hannyagrrrl
PRESS
Crosscut: Editor's Notebook: 9 ways to celebrate Women’s Equality Day with Art
Real Change: The Womb is a Collective Underground
Hanako O’Leary is a Seattle based artist whose work explores feminism through illustration, performance, and sculpture. She received her MFA in Arts Leadership from the Seattle University, and holds BFAs in both Sculpture and, Crafts/Ceramics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
O’Leary is currently a Resident Artist at Pottery Northwest, and also completed a residency at Seward Park Clay Studio. Past awards include the Minidoka Pilgrimage Scholarship from Seattle University.
She has exhibited her work extensively both in solo and group exhibitions in Washington, Illinois and North Carolina. Her work is part of the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Public Artist Roster, and is included in public and private collections.
As an arts advocate, teacher and administrator, O’Leary has supported many artists, notably through her work as program coordinator for community programs such as Shunpike Storefronts, and the Artist of Color Expo and Symposium.
www.hannyagrrrl.com
Instagram @hannyagrrrl
PRESS
Crosscut: Editor's Notebook: 9 ways to celebrate Women’s Equality Day with Art
Real Change: The Womb is a Collective Underground