Open Studio Day
Members Residency
Maya Humphries & Yuji Lee
Friday, May 31st |12-4PM
Maya Humpheries and Yuji Lee, our members participating in the first iteration of the membership residency will be opening their main gallery studios for the public to come check out their work. Pop into the main gallery space from 12-4 pm on Friday, May 31st to get an insight into the wonderful projects they have been working on this month!
Maya Humphries (she/her) is an artist from Regina who explores interpersonal connections within her practice. She is currently a student at the University of Regina studying for a Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in printmaking. Taking inspiration from close relationships, her work serves as a record of personal experiences that are aimed to express a shared familiarity. Through expressive linework and feminine colours, she seeks to transform the seemingly mundane into whimsical compositions.
Maya’s practice focuses on interpersonal relationships. Through taking inspiration from her lived experiences and the natural world, Humphries uses her work as a means of processing my connections to others and capturing emotional responses in a physical form. Generally, she tends to focus on the bonds she shares with family and close friends. Recently, she’s been reflecting on these connections by exploring their unmistakable importance during times of grief. The passing of Humpheries’ grandmother prompted her to reflect on those closest and the importance of community through times of hardship. After this loss, she felt inclined to connect with her mother in our shared grief. She utilized the love and labor of making through her connection to printmaking and her mother’s connection to quilting to illustrate the bond with her mother. Through incorporating textiles into her work, she continues to explore this connect and traditionally matriarchal “hobbyist” art forms to recognize its material usefulness in providing multi-generational connection and comfort.
Yuji Lee is an emerging artist working in multiple mediums with a focus on drawing. The artist holds a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts with Great Distinction from the University of Regina, and works as a facilitator at Dunlop Art Gallery. Yuji’s work has been exhibited and published across Turtle Island (Regina, SK; Saskatoon, SK; Vancouver, BC; Montreal, QC; Oakland, CA). Through residencies and mentorships, Yuji’s practice has been supported by the University of Saskatchewan, the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Now Program, CARFAC Saskatchewan, and Neutral Ground Artist-Run Centre.
Yuji’s artworks have a magical realism feel focused on alternative ways of being, the complexities of inhabiting a physical form, and the unconventional beauty of the so-called “other”. Yuji is interested in challenging rigid gender roles and forms of self-expression, semantic reclamation, and advocating for safety in authenticity.
