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Richard Yaski:
"Art is a combination of the holy, the profane and the present
moment," muses Richard Yaski, a man who knows whereof he speaks. Starting
his journey in art from Los Angeles' Chouinard Institute 37 years ago, the
prominent Mendocino Coast sculptor, teacher, and driving force behind
Shibui Sculpture Garden lives in the moment with his art and his
life.
In full welding gear, Yaski is a gentle giant as he melts and fuses raw
metals into profound works of art in his towering Little River
studio. The moment is rarefied: the sparks fly, his approach is bold and
sure, his heart open to truth as it is revealed. The works that flow out
of his studio are exquisite, plentiful and come in many sizes. Uniquely,
Yaski is the only sculptor on the North Coast that is doing monumental
outdoor metal sculptures and fountains on commission. Yaski gladly gives
private tours of his work, located at Shibui Sculpture Garden, and his
Little River studio, by appointment.
The Artist
Yaski works passionately in bronze, stainless steel, painted steel,
Cor-Ten steel, copper, aluminum, and leather. He sculpts with fire, metal
and space. From a deep, quiet place inside, his art comes through
him. He is a conduit, a birth father. Today, his art works are in
collections that span the globe from Russia's Kremlin to the Detroit
International Airport to the Mendocino Coast. Now, he is exploring using
light as a medium, working with fiber optics, laser and incandescent
lighting sources to integrate light into sculpture as an integral part of
it, rather than just an illuminating agent.
The Teacher
For the last seven years, Yaski taught welding and metal sculpture
through
the Mendocino Art Center at his Little River studio. When he teaches, his
students emerge from class with far more than safe welding skills. His
studio, home and grounds are couched in a majestic setting: soaring
redwood forest, waterfalls, fern canyons, all enhanced by Yaski's superb
sculpting of the surrounding terrain, creating a park-like
ambiance. Next, as a teacher, he is extremely creative, with a wealth of
information and inspiration to impart. Students in his popular "Found
Object Metal Sculpture " class learn to see the intrinsic beauty of the
mundane in our environment and explore the possibilities of rearranging
their world in such a way to see it all as art. As a part of that process,
they merge the mundane and the sublime, creating found art
sculpture. Mindfulness techniques, meditation and breathing exercises are
incorporated in the welding class to help students to focus and center on
their work and see the relationship and connectivity of it to their daily
lives.
In his "Welding for Women" class, a "testosterone-free" environment
enables women to learn welding skills and make art in comfort and safety,
even if they have never handled power tools before. In fact, safety is
emphasized and carried out in all of Yaski's classes, and Welding Safety
certificates are offered upon completion.
The Collaborator
A true 70's pioneer, Yaski arrived in Mendocino in a converted school
bus,
his home during the early years. To support his dream of becoming a metal
sculptor, he first became a building contractor, designing and building
his home, now considered a showplace, landscaping his land and adding a
spectacular studio. From this extensive background, he took his
organizational, project management, and teamwork skills into the field of
architectural commissions. Consequently, Yaski has worked for years with
architects, clients and designers creating custom architectural sculptural
elements for the private art collector as well as the corporate
world. He delights in collaboration, citing a house that was once
constructed specifically to accommodate a fountain he built into the wall.
The Founder and Curator
Rounding out his contribution to the world of art and the community,
Yaski
has spearheaded the creation of Shibui Sculpture Garden, an extraordinary
ten acre sculpture park, with two locations; one recently opened near the
ocean, bordering The Ledford House restaurant, the other nestled in the
redwoods, adjoining a 400 acre nature preserve in Little River. He plans
to make Shibui the premier sculpture garden on the West Coast, with life
size and monumental works of various Northwestern U.S. artists on display
at the ocean location and smaller garden sized and monumental art in
Little River. Yaski is innovating the financial arrangements, too, by
taking a smaller profit than is usual, thereby increasing the artist's
compensation as well as lowering the price to the client.
Soon, we will be seeing a whole new generation of his sculptural style,
as
he begins to incorporate earth elements into his work. His artistic vision
is telling him that earth elements are the right counterpoint for those
clean Zen lines we have come to expect from him. And look for more copper
and bronze pieces too, because, according to Yaski, the more they are
exposed to the elements, the deeper they become, just like people.
Richard Yaski is available for commissioned work.
For more information and a class schedule:
Call: 707-937-0075
Write: Richard Yaski, Box 333, Little River, CA 95456
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