Yuki Toy is an artist and author in Los Angeles. She grew up in Hokkaido, Japan and teaches Anatomy Illustration at American University of Health Sciences in Signal Hill and figure drawing at SPACE South Pasadena Art Center. She has been published in multiple medical illustration books and her artwork has been part of the curriculum at USC and Cal Tech. Yuki received an MFA from CSU, Los Angeles, and a BFA from SUNY New Paltz, and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. Known for anatomical illustration in muted, pastel tones, her combination of colored pencils and gouache creates a subdued and nostalgic feel–evoking a tradition that spans from Leonardo da Vinci to Frank Henry Netter.

Yuki’s latest series of literal pop culture dissections, On the Record, utilizes actual vintage record covers to showcase her medically accurate illustrations. Some of the pieces in this show have new artwork on multiple surfaces, and some of them have new drawings on the actual LPs. The notion of collecting is directly confronted, since the artist’s appropriation of pop relics can be interpreted as a form of vandalism to a record-collecting purist. This more personal form of graffiti juxtaposes the objects relative value as an antique with its intrinsic, aesthetic equivalent–that of a unique work of fine art.

Since the time of the Leonardo Da Vinci, and his depictions of the human form, there has been great advancements in the art of representing the human body. The art has evolved over time from illustration to digital imaging using the technological advancements of the digital age. Berengario da Carpi was the first known anatomist to include medical illustration within his textbooks. Gray’s Anatomy, originally published in 1858, is one well known human anatomy textbook that showcases a variety of anatomy depiction techniques. As a profession, medical illustration has a more recent history. In the late 1890s, Max Brödel, a talented artist from Leipzig, was brought to The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore to illustrate for Harvey Cushing, William Halsted, Howard Kelly, and other notable clinicians.

Following in that tradition, Yuki Toy was invited earlier this year to illustrate for Dr. Ralph Adolphs at the Neuroscience department at Cal Tech, and her medical and emotional work has graced the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Catalog, and the USC Book of Surgery. This is Yuki’s first exhibition since her installation at Kaboo Festival in 2017, and her 6th overall solo show.