Kimiko Yoshida : " La ou je ne suis pas "

Based in Paris, Japanese artist Kimiko Yoshida self portraits sublimate a childhood marked by abandon and  wandering. Her costumes are nourished by fantasies, memories, dreams and legends..... Ghostly, travestied into a man or hermaphrodite, Kimiko Yoshida endlessly questions identity, wholeness. Her photographs let her face appear or disappear, disguised and made up.
" Everyone in the world tries to be unique, I want to be numerous, become universal."
" La ou je ne suis pas, " in English " Where I'm not, " is a retrospective of self-portraits by Kimiko Yoshida, from the early series " Brides " to her most recent work entitled " Paintings " shown for the first time in France, at La Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, Paris.

In this powerful series of 80 photographs, former fashion designer Kimiko Yoshida appropriates Paco Rabanne’s haute couture creations. She transforms dressed, skirts, accessories, trousers and shoes into Grand Siècle hairpieces, antique parures, and historical costumes. 

" La ou je ne suis pas "

Goddess of war Athena by Klimt, 2010

Courtesy Paco Rabanne

El Conquistador Hernan Cortes as El Dorado, 2010

Giovanni Arnolfini by Van Eyck, 2010

Queen of France Maria de Medici by Rubens, 2010

Warhol by Himself, 2010

Ophelia by Delacroix, 2010

Sioux Chief sitting Bull, 2010

Sultan Saladin the Great, 2010

Condottiere Micheletto, 2010

Suleiman the magnificent by Titian, 2010

All images, courtesy Paco Rabanne

To view more on the artist's work and future exhibitions, click on Kimiko Yoshida