Yoella Razili: Gallery
Razili’s A Balancing Act #3 features a multitude of angular and rounded wooden pieces. This piece incorporates a unique usage of lines, color, shapes, and asymmetry to create a distinct balance within the center of the work.
A Balancing Act #3 demonstrates balance at the center of the work. While all other pieces of the work are parallel to each other, the center is seen 'balancing' on a tip. This form of balance, one that is achieved not by equality of weight distribution, but by the ability to equalize different aspects, may be seen in daily life. The color white, often associated with one’s purity, innocence, and overall completion lays as the cornerstone to this work. In life, individuals are tasked with balancing a multitude of responsibilities. Each different wooden shape in A Balancing Act #3 represents a duty in a person’s life.
White Box, 2014
White Box assembles otherwise ill-fitting wooden blocks into a three-dimensional cube. Razili utilizes the colors of white and ‘wood’ to create an unmistakable contrast.
Yoella Razili’s White Box shows an arrangement of odd wood pieces to create a three-dimensional box. It is then painted white, with some pieces of wood remaining untouched. This piece may be applied to society, especially those who have faced the experience of being culturally hybridized. While most of the individual wooden pieces are painted white, a few pieces are left natural. This shows that although a foreign color has overtaken the structure, it is unable to rid the wood of its essence. Coherently, hybridized individuals, while influenced by a foreign culture, are ultimately unable to part themselves from their ethnical backgrounds. Finally, the box is formed through both white and un-colored wooden blocks, demonstrating that each person is dynamic in build.
Red and Biege, 2016
Yoella Razili’s Red and Beige presents a solid red colored wooden block underneath alternated beige triangular planks. Above the planks reside parallel metallic, light pink, and beige wooden boards. Combined, the artwork creates a stark disparity between the textured, light-colored upper portion against the solid red bottom.
Red and Beige features a solid red base with stacking beige wooden planks above. This work represents progress through accumulation. Red, a symbol for power, strength, and affirmation is layered with beige, a common color of intellect. The layering symbolizes the process of building education on previous knowledge, with the metallic illustrating an achievement point. Through strength, persistence, and the gradual accumulation of knowledge, individuals can become better versions of themselves.
Horizon, 2008
Horizon features a wooden rectangle split into two distinguishable sections. The upper portion is a solid marbled color while the lower one is a textured bright blue. Razili’s choice of color and texture create a clear off-balance.
Yoella Razili’s 2008 work, Horizon, creates an imbalance using brightness, texture, and pattern. The lower half of the work depicts water, with the lines representing ripples and flow. The upper half is painted a mysterious, eerie gray. The absence of texture and inclusion of off-colors create a dark suspicion. Combined, this piece contradicts the common thought of sunny, romantic horizons.
Lines Across, 2012
Razili’s Lines Across portray a plastered sheet of hole-punched paper. The deformation of the paper rids itself of previous lines, thus, allowing Yoella Razili to create new, imperfect ones. Unlike a new sheet of lined paper, Razili choses to create non-uniform boxes.
Yoella Razili’s Lines Across dissects lines through a multitude of lenses. Literally crossing lines on worn-paper, Razili demonstrates the ability to overcome pre-formed lines and create something truly unique. While ‘lined paper’ resembles a field of uniformity for the sole purpose of writing, Razili strips the paper to it’s essence and redraws the lines. This idea of singularity may be applied to a broader spectrum of ideas, where an individual must not follow the ‘lines’ pre-set by society if one wishes to be genuinely special.
