Fall 2020 Artist-in-Residence: Yanira Vissepo

Coop is pleased to announce Yanira Vissepo as artist-in-residence for September - October 2020. Due to the pandemic, Coop has paused all gallery exhibitions. Instead, we are offering our gallery as studio space for a Nashville-based artist. Thanks to all of the local artists who applied to our fall residency. We received a number of strong applicants. We look forward to seeing what Yanira makes in our space during the next several weeks. You can follow Yanira on instagram @yaniravissepo.

More about the Artist:

Born in Puerto Rico, 1992 Yanira Vissepo migrated to Tennessee with her family in 2002. Uprooted from her culture, Vissepo began exploring creative escapes. Primarily a self taught artist, Vissepo found herself tapping into different mediums through visual art discovering her passion for printmaking. Linocut being an accessible format, Yanira began working from home printing on recycled materials and acquiring skills with the sewing machine, her block printed textiles and tapestries came into existence. In 2016 she was able to work out of a studio located
in Nashville’s arts district, Wedgewood Houston at what used to be a sock factory, the May Hosiery Building. Eventually being displaced by development, Vissepo found herself back at home in her spare bedroom preparing for her first solo exhibition in 2018. Researching the
world of printmaking throughout the years, she was ready to follow her career and further educate herself on the foundation of woodblock print. In 2019, Yanira attended The International School of Mokuhanga in Kyoto, Japan where she acquired skills in traditional Japanese woodblock printmaking. Inspired and surrounded by Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines seen across mountains in Kyoto, her work already naturalistic taps into otherworldly landscapes now influenced by old world traditions. Vissepo merges traditional with new, utilizing mokuhanga as the translator, making her a cross cultural contemporary artist. Yanira has worked with various mediums implementing printmaking; including free form tapestries, block printed textiles, soft sculptures, as well as works on paper. Her work has been seen in various solo exhibitions and group exhibitions in Middle Tennessee.