Catching up with Yuria Okamura

Yuria Okamura won the 2011 Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award and we are catching up with her while she is doing a residency in Berlin at the Takt Residency Berlin Friedrichshain

Yuria, you won the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award Prize back in 2011, how did the prize money help support your art practice?

The prize money has enabled me to undertake an artist residency program in Berlin for three months. It has been very inspiring to be able to work in a different city and meet artists from all over the world.

I noticed that you were part of a number of group shows last year. Can you give us an idea on what you have been working on, how your work has progressed and in particular your installation, Shifting that you made for the exhibition at Langford 120 in July 2012.

Since I received the award in 2011 until now, I have been building on similar ideas and trying out different references, mediums, techniques and presentation to explore how to best communicate my ideas. With Shifting, 2012, I wanted to create something that worked with the space I was given and I wanted to try working outside of the static nature of painting. So, based on a series of drawings of shapes I had made previously, I made larger cutout shapes that hover off the wall, creating shadow, reflection and a sense of movement.

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   Installation view of Shifting at Langford 120

   1. approx 200 x 500cm 

You graduated in 2010, how have you managed to keep making work, after leaving the structure of educational institutions?

For emerging artists, I think it is often hard to find a good balance between paid work, personal/social life and art practice, which includes both research and making. After graduating, I have made an effort to keep working as if I was still at Uni. I got a studio space where I can work amongst other artists and give each other feedback. I also give myself a deadline for each work to be completed so I can manage my time better. 

What’s next for Yuria and do you have any projects planned for the future?

I tend to alternate between experiment and refinement phases. I seem to be going through the experiment phase at the moment and enjoying creating a variety of small studies. So we'll see what comes out of them!

I'm hoping to keep researching  and developing my ideas while exploring different ways to represent them, and I would like to have one solo show per year. Also, I think artist residencies provide wonderful opportunities to meet artists from all over the world and I hope to do it every couple of years.

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   1. Inside is Outside, Outside is Inside, 2012, Acrylic, ink and rice paper on wall.
      Installation view from Seventh exhibition.
      

   Check out more of Yurias' work at her blogsite. Thanks Yuria for letting us know how you are going and I hope your residency in Berlin goes well. What a fabulous opportunity and I am sure alot of fun and hard work. It's great to see that the Award money has helped you continue your journey in art making.