Leah Harper's 'Mitosis' at Yi Gallery Project Room, Bushwick

Leah Harper's exhibition 'Mitosis' opened April 10 and runs through May 15 at Yi Gallery Project Room, a tiny gallery in the artist building at 56 Bogart Street, Bushwick. The show features biomorphic installations and drawings, centered on a sculptural group of oblong luminous spheres made from resin-coated fabric and thread. Accompanying works include a small wax scale model, miniature porcelain figures, and two-dimensional marker and ink drawings. All pieces share a theme of soft, rounded organic forms evoking ephemeral marine life. Harper's sculptures mimic marine organisms and ecosystems, with forms clustered in small coral-like colonies traversing the built environment in migratory patterns. Her drawings transpose these structures onto paper, focusing on geometric bands of opaque color and clean, strong lines. Harper draws inspiration from marine life and ecosystems of her hometown on Florida's Gulf Coast—jellyfish, snails, sea urchins, barnacles, and oysters inform her visual lexicon. By incorporating these organic forms into the environment, she highlights the delicate balance between humans and nature, addressing climate change and sea-level rise. Last month, the gallery also presented a virtual group exhibition running until May 18 supporting #stopasianhate, with proceeds benefiting Stop AAPI Hate Organization, founded in 2020 in response to pandemic-related xenophobia.