Shana Nys Dambrot
Yoshie Sakai’s maximalist multimedia practice cavorts across sculpture, environmental installation, performance, and filmmaking—engaging in quirky, emotional world-building scenarios that center her lived experience within broader conversations about what our society values. “Loosely autobiographical,” her narratives and videos are written, produced, directed—and of course, costumed and performed—by the artist herself. With aesthetic, narrative, and material influences ranging from East Asian soap operas to Hollywood musicals, the wellness industry, and her own poignant memories of her grandmother that came to live with them when Sakai was a child, she gathers found and meaningful objects to engineer surreal, yet intimate, experiential scenarios.
Installation view, Yoshie Sakai Grandma Entertainment Franchise at the Vincent Price Art Museum. (Courtesy of VPAM. Photo by Monica Orozco)
Equally interested in subverting the rankling trope of the model minority, especially in the context of the Japanese American community in South L.A., as well as in shedding light on the abysmal state of elder care in American society, Sakai’s current exhibition at Vincent Price Art Museum in East L.A. fuses these threads into a sublime three-part installation re-imagining the world as if old folks were the target demographic, receiving the respect and attention they deserve. Bouncing between the carnivalesque and the deadly serious, celebratory and critical, nostalgic and disorienting, affecting and hilarious, Sakai intentionally deploys humor as a way of creating shared, safer spaces to have difficult conversations.
Grandma Entertainment Franchise is on view at the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College until February 3, 2024. Further manifestations of this work will be featured as part of Acting Against Ageism: Performance and Films at LACMA on Saturday, January 27.
Installation view, Yoshie Sakai Grandma Entertainment Franchise at the Vincent Price Art Museum. (Courtesy of VPAM. Photo by Elon Schoenholz)
L.A. WEEKLY: Did you go to art school? Why/Why not?
YOSHIE SAKAI: Yes! I was working as an administrative assistant for a mobile phone company creating presentations and doing things for other people, but one day I decided that I wanted to make a living doing something creative and for myself. At the time, I was living in Hawaii, so I applied/enrolled as a fine art student with plans of becoming a graphic designer, as I thought that was the “practical” creative field to go into. However, I didn’t know anything about anything in art, so I needed some direction in learning how to draw and in understanding the basics. Once I started doing that, at the age of 30, I just kept going—from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, to Golden West College in Huntington Beach, to CSULB for my BFA in Drawing and Painting, and then to Claremont Graduate University for my MFA. It was a long route, but yes, I did go through the school system, as I needed the structure to learn and to be a part of a community who were of like mind.
Installation view, Yoshie Sakai Grandma Entertainment Franchise at the Vincent Price Art Museum. (Courtesy of VPAM. Photo by Monica Orozco)
When did you first know you were an artist?
I didn’t know I was an artist for the longest time even while working on my BFA and MFA degrees. I knew I was creative, and people have always told me that, but it was not until right before graduating from Claremont Graduate University when I was able to say, “I am an artist. This is what I do, and that is me.” Until then, I felt I was just going through the motions of doing what I thought needed to be done by getting a BFA, then an MFA. Even while in graduate school, a faculty member questioned my purpose of being there and whether I was just a hobbyist. But as I met with other artists and talked about my ideas and had the space to experiment, I moved out of my comfort zone from painting to video, sculpture, and installation. I felt at home and knew art was the right place for me.
Installation view, Yoshie Sakai Grandma Entertainment Franchise at the Vincent Price Art Museum. (Courtesy of VPAM. Photo by Elon Schoenholz)
What is your short answer to people who ask what your work is about?
The crux of my work is about subverting expectations through humor and narrative whether it be those of the mass media, cultural identity, gender roles, or familial and personal relationships. With my maximalist multimedia installations, I am creating a world where anxieties, fears, and hopes coexist and find meaning amid the challenges that come with everyday living. I am inspired by the interactions I have and the connections I make with those around me—my friends, my family, my coworkers, my neighbors, even the people I meet for the very first time.
What would you be doing if you weren’t an artist?
Gosh, if I weren’t an artist, I may still be back in college as a professional student and training for the Winter Olympics to “Go for the Gold” in the ski jump. My other thought is that I would be a “tarento” or “talent,” a sort of television celebrity in Japan as a Japanese American on variety shows because it seems like it would be a fun job. I could meet Japanese celebrities/comedians and talk and joke about the quirks of daily life from my Japanese American perspective and to hear theirs. I know, very random, but true.
Installation view, Yoshie Sakai Grandma Entertainment Franchise at the Vincent Price Art Museum. (Courtesy of VPAM. Photo by Monica Orozco)
Why do you live and work in L.A., and not elsewhere?
When I was younger, I would have said that I was trying to get out of L.A. or the South Bay where I was born and raised—Torrance and Gardena, respectively. I wanted to leave and “see the world,” and I did live elsewhere for a bit, not having traveled too far, to Northern California for a moment and to Honolulu, Hawaii for five years. It has been many years since then, but I am back at home in Gardena and living with my 89-year-old mother. My work is very much inspired by my daily life—my interactions with those who are immediately around me. I am finding the charm, uniqueness, and really seeing how special it is to live at home and in Gardena, which is a place like no other. To be honest, this may change again, but for now, this is it, and I am living and learning here. Come visit!
Installation view, Yoshie Sakai Grandma Entertainment Franchise at the Vincent Price Art Museum. (Courtesy of VPAM. Photo by Elon Schoenholz)
When was your first show?
I like to joke, but it is the truth. My first solo show was in 2016 in the other “LA” in New Orleans, Louisiana, at a very special art space called Antenna. It was the first time I was able to exhibit one of my ongoing works “KOKO’s Love” as a video installation that occupied the second story of a house, as Antenna operated from a two-story home. It was perfect for my loosely autobiographical, fictional Asian/Asian American soap opera series where I play all the characters and celebrate the dysfunctionalities of growing up and living as a Japanese American woman in the South Bay.
Installation view, Yoshie Sakai Grandma Entertainment Franchise at the Vincent Price Art Museum. (Courtesy of VPAM. Photo by Elon Schoenholz)
When is/was your current/most recent/next show or project?
My first museum solo exhibition Grandma Entertainment Franchise or “GEF” for short, is currently open at the Vincent Price Art Museum until February 3rd. The GEF is an immersive multimedia installation that includes a Grandma Nightclub, Grandma Amusement Park, and Grandma Day Spa. My hope is that by creating this alternate reality to Disneyland and Hollywood’s emphasis on the “new” and its preoccupation with the “next big thing,” I could celebrate and honor our disenfranchised elderly community by making them into larger-than-life heroes, who they are. I have a special place in my heart for my “obaa-chan” (“grandmother” in Japanese), who would never have thought of herself as a hero—but the most unlikely truly are.
What artist living or dead would you most like to show or work with?
Hmmm…. I would have to say Pipilotti Rist, Mike Kelley, and Paul McCarthy!
Website and social media handles, please.
IG: @yoshie_sakai_studio
Installation view, Yoshie Sakai Grandma Entertainment Franchise at the Vincent Price Art Museum. (Courtesy of VPAM. Photo by Monica Orozco)
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