Kevin Yatsu is an artist who works with digital and physical media to explore diaspora narratives based in magical realism and the creation of life-flexible creative ecosystems. Utilizing game engines and AI-driven tools, virtual galleries and interactive installations, he creates multi-media interactions within unexpected environments. In Yatsu’s worlds, permutated presentations and sonic oddities mingle with uncanny situations and environments, inviting the viewer to engage with new perspectives and realities.

Through the lens of East-Asian folklore and Buddhism, he investigates themes of curiosity, identity, and latent histories. He operates using collaboration-friendly systems and intuitive physical-to-digital//digital-to-physical workflows as a response to the tech industry’s agenda. He actively facilitates collaborations with creatives who don’t normally consider presenting works in virtual spaces.

Kevin holds an MFA from the University of Oregon and a BFA in Cinema Studies from the University of Oregon. He is the Co-Founder and Director of AUGURY HOUSE, an interdisciplinary art collective centered around life-flexible creative collaborations.

EDUCATION

2021

Master of Fine Arts
University of Oregon School of Art and Design
Eugene, OR

2018

Bachelor of Fine Arts
University of Oregon, Cinema Studies
Eugene, OR

EXPERIENCE

2024

Community Reviewer, Regional Arts & Culture Council

2022 - 2024

Festival Coordinator, Digital Technology, Sundance Institute

EXHIBITIONS

2023

‘A Kind of Alchemy’: The Work of Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, The International Journal for Digital Art History, Virtual Exhibition

RASTER Array: Overcastings, MK Gallery, Portland, OR

Breaking Ground, Portland Center Stage, Portland, OR

2021

IRENE.HOUSE, Laverne Krause Gallery, Eugene, OR

2019

Cohrot II, Laverne Krause Gallery, Eugene, OR

Cohrot, Laverne Krause Gallery, Eugene, OR

Throne Room. Washburn Gallery, Eugene, OR

User Guide. Laverne Krause Gallery, Eugene, OR

SCREENING

2018

SUM VENOM//EVIL, Portland Underground Film Festival, Portland, OR

TEACHING

2023 - Ongoing

Teaching Artist, Vibe of Portland, Portland, OR.

2019 - 2021

Graduate Instructor, “Time Based Media,” University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.

Teaching Assistant, “The Artist Experience,” University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.

PRESENTATION

2017

“Feminist Media Studies Symposium,” sponsored by University of Oregon Cinema Studies, Portland, OR.