Kumi Yamashita explores issues of identity and perception in two and three dimensions. Her artwork is created by hand by unexpected means, such as life portraits drawn from credit card rubbings or figures which spring to life from objects that appeared to be randomly arrayed. Her most recent portraits have been drawn from single pieces of string or rendered by meticulously pulling strands from the warp and weft of a piece of fabric. Yamashita first came to the United States in 1984 as a high school exchange student in Indiana. This early experience away from the homogeneous culture of Japan sparked her awareness of issues of identity, as well as what connects things that are seemingly unrelated. She was continually on the move for the next ten years with studies at the Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, and the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. Yamashita has had several one person shows in the United States, including The Seattle Art Museum (1997) The Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco (1999) and Kent Gallery (2002).