Studio Visit with Kieth Yap
Kieth Yap in his studio, Dubbo NSW
Kieth's studio is tucked away down some dark and occasionally flooded stairs off the main street of Dubbo. He has managed to score some space in a friend's framing and workshop space called The Basement Studio. There is a mosaics workshop in full swing as we arrive, so for the time being we head off for a spot of lunch and some amazing op-shopping!
When we return, I ask Kiethy to pose in front of his desk for the head shot. Once we've covered a few different angles it's down to business. Kieth's most recent work is layed out carefully on packing foam on the floor. The subject matter is quite varied and random it seems. Family, fashion, his cultural heritage and other elements of pop culture are common themes. The neon colours stand out from the textured circular paper. Kieth uses mainly pencil, ink and markers to create his drawings.
He starts flicking through an old art journal to show me how he arrived at the final work. Old sketches have been re-drawn over and over until the colour and composition are satisfactory. Magazine clippings have been drawn on and collaged repetitively throughout the journal. Contours of faces are crudely highlighted, a signature Kieth Yap style.
As he flicks through he reaches for a drawing of his mother as a child and continues to work on it. He draws from photographs on his laptop, pattern and fine detail are a prominent feature of this series. Then he's onto another one! Jumping from work to work to show me different subjects and why they are important to him. There are some very personal elements in the work, the portraiture for example is exquisitely drawn in a very realistic soft style and then surrounded by strange neon coloured shapes and marks. It's a real clash of styles, which in the end is Yap's own interpretation.
Twice Boiled is the new solo exhibition by Kieth Yap. The exhibition is on show at The Corner Store Gallery from June 25th to July 12th with an opening night on Friday June 26th from 6-8pm.
Kieth Yap's studio space in The Basement Studio in Dubbo, NSW.
Flicking through some old journal sketches.
Old journal sketches.
Building up to the final draft.
Some new work situated amongst student's work and other inspiration on Kieth's desk.
Kieth works on a drawing of his mother from a photograph on the laptop.
Kieth's desk with old and new drawings of the same subject, demonstrating the process.
The final pieces for the exhibition.
