On view at the Longlati Foundation in Shanghai, "RECESS" brings together a new body of work reveals the artist's "dance with the canvas."
The show is staged at the Longlati Foundation, a nonprofit co-founded by David Su and Zihao Chen that operates as a meeting point for diverse new voices in the international art scene. Running concurrently to Yearwood-Dan’s show is an exhibition from another international artist, “Georgia Gardner Gray: Metal Madonna,” wherein the New York-based artist reevaluates the Madonna as both theme and motif within a contemporary urban landscape.
The all-caps “RECESS” is an evocative title, suggesting an adjournment or moment of pause, an alcove, and also a time of play. The latter interpretation may be the most fitting. Paintings such as Waiting to Exhale (2025) convey a sense of bound energy through frenetic yet lithe brushstrokes. In Yearwood-Dan’s ceramic pieces, like the multi-cone shaped work Untitled (2025), the brushstrokes appear only upon close inspection of the layers of glaze, and the strata of pointed forms and idiosyncratic edges reveal the artist’s hand.
Timed to the show, we reached out to Yearwood-Dan to learn a bit more about what went into the works of “RECESS.”
“RECESS” is your first solo show in China. Knowing that it was your first solo exhibition in the country, did that influence or inform the work you made or your approach to bringing the show together?
For me, having my first solo show in China didn’t specifically dictate what I was making. However, from my experiences observing Chinese art in the past, I have always been drawn to the fluidity and mark making that I’ve seen in more contemporary and traditional Chinese practices. I guess, for me, that was how I originally set out to approach making this body of work. I wanted it to feel more free and fluid than previous bodies before.
Can you talk about the body of work included in the show and the core themes with which you engaged?
For this show, I really wanted to access the idea of play, with the intention of giving the work more fluidity. I was rooted in the idea that often feels lost to me in the studio, of getting to experiment and play with new ways of making. This show, in some ways, sat as a natural break point between major upcoming projects, so I was able to give myself the opportunity to lean into a childlike freedom in my approach to this work.
What do you hope the viewing experience is like for visitors of the show? What do you hope they take away with them?
I consistently have the hope that people will be able to personally resonate and relate with the work. I want them to feel like the work is approachable and inclusive, whomever they may be.
Installation view of “Michaela Yearwood-Dan: RECESS” (2025). Photo: Courtesy of Longlati Foundation.
You’ve described your process as a “dance with the canvas.” Can you expand on this idea? Where do you start? How do you choose which materials to incorporate?
Like a dance, there doesn’t have to be any rules, so I don’t restrict myself to following any form of routine. I think Helen Frankentharler said it best: “That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.”
What are you working on now, or hope to work on next? Are there any ideas, either technical or conceptual, with which you are considering working for the first time?
Ha! There are a lot of things coming up that I’m excited by! But I don’t think any of them I want to fully divulge right now. What I will say is that I still feel excited about making and feel more engaged with the playfulness of materials.
“Michaela Yearwood-Dan: RECESS” is on view at Longlati Foundation, Shanghai, through February 7, 2026.
