Yuree Kensaku’s work is full of strange and beautiful characters: cartoon occupants of a distinct fantasy world. In each work, Kensaku conjures characters with complete narrative arcs. These vivid and sweet characters live in her stories, which are sometimes about herself or womanhood, sometimes a social commentary or a critique on politics, and sometimes about the art world.

For BAB 2020, Kensaku has created both paintings and sculptures. She reimagines Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix from the Romantic era in her recognizable style. The woman raising the flag and embodying the power of the mass is now turned into a loveable and cute character in a seemingly opposite approach. French democracy is a form of freedom. The work is inspired by Kensaku’s interest in French art history, literature, comics, as well as the movies she’s seen when she was young. As for the sculpture, Kensaku recreates the Hellenic marble statue of the goddess Nike in the battle of Samothrace that Delacroix reinterpreted as the flag bearer, a personification of the mass uprising in the French Revolution in the 19th century. Kensaku relates the sculpture of Nike with a broken wing to her pet, a rescued pigeon whose wings have been clipped before she encountered it. The clipped wings, a symbol of curtailed freedom. Kensaku also paints on a plank of wood cut into the shape of King Louis XVI, connecting symbols and icons from the world’s masterpieces to her own experiences. In constructing new worlds, Kensaku always leaves her viewers wondering about all the different ways her works could be appreciated.