Craft Lake City Announces New Exhibition Celebration of the Hand: Lya Yang
Salt Lake City, UT – Craft Lake City is pleased to announce Celebration of the Hand: Lya Yang, an outdoor exhibition showcasing 14 photographs by local artist Lya Yang. The streetside display will be on view along Broadway (300 S.) between 200 West and 200 East in downtown Salt Lake City now through March 2021. A free public Lunch & Learn virtual event will be hosted by the artist and Craft Lake City on Wed., Feb. 24 at noon.
In Celebration of the Hand: Lya Yang, the artist shares photographs of individuals wearing fragmented mirror masks against diverse Utah landscapes. The collection of work evolved from a previous project titled Mirror Helmet, in which a block-formed headpiece constructed from mirrors was photographed to distort and reflect different surroundings. In this new variation, the mirrored masks are more compact and highly fractured, creating meaning from collective fragments rather than reflecting a specific scene. The images explore themes of place, identity and anonymity, and seek to capture the beauty found in imperfection.
“For this Celebration of the Hand, I wanted to highlight the beauty and diversity in our place, of both the physical land and those humans that inhabit it, and maybe recontextualize how we think of our people and our city,” explains Yang. “I think we all start off at some point simply imitating what is around us like a distorted mirror, but as life happens, things grow, break and change. I think there’s something beautiful about choosing to gather chipped and broken off pieces over and over to build something new.”
Lya Yang is a visual artist born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah by immigrant parents. She received a BFA from the University of Utah in Painting and Drawing, but has an interest in many different visual mediums, including 3-dimensional materials and most recently, photography. In 2018, Yang was selected as an Artisan Scholar for the 10th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival Artisan Scholarship and Mentor Program.
Informed by activist Jane Jacobs’ fascination with self-organized urbanism, Celebration of the Hand is a seasonal exhibition series designed to enhance and reflect Salt Lake City’s cultural district through the work of local artists. The exhibitions feature inspiring artwork meant to engage passersby with ideas that matter, and provide the local artisan community with a venue to showcase their talent and contribute to the city’s cultural enhancement. Celebration of the Hand is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week free of charge, and provides a safe option for experiencing art while social distancing.
The Celebration of the Hand series is curated and organized by Craft Lake City. This project is supported in part by The Center for the Living City and The Temporary Museum of Permanent Change.
For more information, please visit craftlakecity.com or lyayang.com.
Lunch & Learn with Lya Yang
Wed., Feb. 24 at noon | FREE | Virtual Event
RSVP Here
The public is invited to join Lya Yang and Craft Lake City for a free virtual Lunch & Learn event on Wednesday, February 24 at noon. Virtual attendees will have the opportunity to meet Yang, view some of her work, share ideas and ask questions.