11:11 By Sara Yukiko Mon At Gern En Regalia

On view at Gern en Regalia, located in the East Village, is the work of Sara Yukiko Mon. Sara is a multidisciplinary artist and designer living and working in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in Design and Media Arts in 2018. Her work transports viewers. Her drawings and prints are full of nostalgic childhood references and have a mix of corporate iconography and DIY culture. Her work has been exhibited with several emerging NYC galleries including Two Birds, One Stone in 2020 at Gern en Regalia. One can also find her “lucky lover” designs in collaboration with CELINE.

11:11 opened on 11/11/22 and conceptually works with themes of parallels and coincidences. The works include images that are sourced from online, blurring the photo/painting medium. The photos are printed on canvas, with some wrapping around the edges, wrapped in plastic sleeves, or stacked on top of each other. While the works can be viewed online, it is an entirely different experience when visiting in person.

Gallery ambience plays softly as we are guided through the gallery space. Upon my entrance I was greeted by Gallery Manager on the top left and Gallery Sitter, which sat beneath the manager. I found this playful and endearing, and I was excited to see more. I was immediately drawn to Luck/Fcuk. The contrasting colors, images, and different sized canvases are grouped into one large-scale work. Images of two different hoodies read the words “LUCK” and “FCUK.” The slogans on the clothing pieces in the show can be found incorporated into Sara and her friend Yuki’s collaborative poem.

Gallery Manager, Ink on Canvas, 8 × 10 in, 2022.

Gallery Sitter, Ink on Canvas, 8 × 10 in, 2022.

Luck / Fcuk, Ink on Canvas, 24 × 40 in, 2022.

As one’s eyes wander up, down, and around the exhibition space, viewers will find works placed on the floor, and some that are hung high on the wall, truly utilizing the space’s high ceilings. Samples is a duo work placed on the floor leaning against the wall. The images are of t-shirts that read “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance” and “SKY IS THE LIMIT.” On the other side laying flat on the floor is House Slippers and A Goal Without A Plan Is Just a Wish, two separate works positioned together. I questioned why I was drawn to the works that had images of clothing, and understood it was because of the Y2K aesthetic that took over the internet over the pandemic.

Samples, Ink on Canvas in Plastic Sleeve, 8 × 10 in (× 2), 2022.

House Slippers, Ink on Canvas, 10 × 8 in, 2022.

A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish, Ink on Canvas in Plastic Sleeve, 10 × 8 in, 2022.

Looking a bit deeper, the 11:11 imagery is omnipresent within all the works, and I can’t help but wonder if Sara purposely did so. In Luck/Fcuk and IT’S NEVER TOO LATE, the two legged jeans lay flat on the floor. The animated character in Flirt poses in a wide position. Both works parallel eachother coincidentally. More explicitly, Button has the number 11 in the work. To me, Button is strategically placed on top of the door signaling 11:11.

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE, Ink on Canvas, 16 × 10 in, 2022.

Button, Ink on Canvas, 16 × 10 in, 2022.

Flirt, Ink on Canvas, 24 × 40 in, 2022.

A 3D element was also uncovered while viewing the works in person. In Dog Ears the nose of the red stuffed animal looks like it’s pointing out. At first glance, Button looks like a physical item glued onto the canvas. I was very surprised to learn it’s in fact a printed image on canvas.

Dog Ears, Ink on Canvas, 36 × 48 in, 2022.

Sara Yukiko’s work has dimensions and layers that can only be discovered when viewing them in person. I felt very fortunate to uncover the little secrets and mysteries within her work.

In a recent interview Sara states: "My work is definitely very much reliant on found images and objects from the web. I’m very drawn to photos from user uploaded listings — images meant to showcase a product that are usually not themselves meant to be interesting or beautiful — and then re-contextualizing these images to tell a story. I like thinking about my work as an archive or visualization of my search history or as a log of what’s out there and available for purchase in that moment in time. My process looks something like this: Searches > Keywords > Image > Collage."