Sandra Yagi

Sandy sketches in her studio with Nimbus on her shoulder. Photo by Mark Rogers Photography.

Sandra Yagi paints beautifully and meticulously detailed surrealist works full of skeletons, butterflies, amphibians, and other creatures that explore evolution, mortality, and the wild

side of human nature. Her art is equal parts gothic and scientific, like a natural history museum reimagined by a mischievous storyteller. When she’s not painting, she volunteers with her cats Nimbus and Lacey as therapy animals, bringing joy and comfort to residents at assisted living and mental healthcare facilities.

In this artist of the month feature, we ask Sandra (aka Sandy) a few questions about her work.

For people new to your work, how would you describe what you create and the intention behind it?

I use oil paints in multiple layers to create imaginary worlds where winged skeletons interact with the natural world. In the latest series of paintings, I’ve portrayed visions of a fantasy faerie world in which death, in the form of a winged skeletal faerie, is interacting with forest creatures. I can recall when, as a kid, I realized that there is no such thing as a fairy world. The real world is beset with tragic events and is full of imperfections. I began to understand that our existence is transient. All beings in the real world don’t live “happily ever after;” they are caught in the cycle of birth, life and death. Death is necessary for the emergence of new life.

Looking back on your career so far, is there one decision or moment that you feel really shaped the path you're on today?

When I was younger, I aspired to be successful in the corporate world. I had put my love of art aside, and got my MBA, and had a senior position at a major financial institution. But rather quickly, it all felt rather hollow, as I had always loved to draw and paint. One day I was sitting at a coffeehouse sketching people, and I got to talking with an elderly artist. She told me that it was a huge mistake to put off being an artist until I retired. She had done that and now didn’t have enough physical energy to do her art form, which was sculpture. Her words disturbed me to my core, and was the kick in the pants that I needed to take art courses, begin drawing and painting seriously, and making preparations to leave my corporate job to pursue a life as an artist. I have never regretted this decision.

When you're getting ready to paint, what sets the mood—do you have go-to music, rituals, or creative fuel that gets you in the zone?

I keep drop box files full of images I’ve collected from the internet over the years. To gain inspiration, I look at images of paintings by my favorite artists, scroll through images of weird creatures, or even look at images from alchemy. More than anything, I try not to lose my curiosity about the natural world, and I try to not take for granted everyday miracles like clouds, sunsets and interesting plants and insects.

If Nimbus and Lacey could roam inside one of your paintings, what mischief do you think they’d get up to? What roles do you imagine they’d play in your surreal scenes?

I recently did a series of gouache paintings exploring the world of Japanese Yokai, a class of supernatural entities and spirits of Japanese folklore,which can be seen as personifications of supernatural and unaccountable phenomena. I incorporated both Nimbus and Lacey as characters in a painting of bakeneko, supernatural cats, dancing in the moonlight.

According to Wikipedia, “The reason that cats are seen as yōkai in Japanese mythology is attributed to many of their characteristics: for example, the pupils of their eyes change shape depending on the time of day, their fur can seem to cause sparks when they are petted (due to static electricity), they can walk without making a sound, their wild nature that remains despite the gentleness they can show, they are difficult to control (unlike dogs), their sharp claws and teeth, nocturnal habits, and their speed and agility.”

Both of my cats exhibit most of these characteristics and I believe that cats are behind reported supernatural poltergeist activity, as they get into mischief in the dead of night.

To experience more of Sandy's work, visit her website and follow her on Instagram. You can also follow Nimbus on Instagram here.