There Was Salt Inside Them

Meryl Yana
14 March - 20 April, 2024

There was salt inside them, Low concentrations of sodium, Only around 33 teaspoons Back where it came from

~Meryl Yana

Driven by an intensely process-orientated approach, Merl Yana immerses herself in the language of her materials and their transformations over time. Shaped by her experience of ancient ceremonies performed by the indigenous Mazatec community of Mexico, Yana’s paintings are a product of ritual and physical intimacy between her body and process.

For her solo exhibition There Was Salt Inside Them, Yana explores the timeless agency of salt. Used to heal, preserve and cleanse, its transmutable properties are central to her practice. Combining materials of varying acidities such as hibiscus, baking powder and citrus juice

with salt, Yana hands control over to her ingredients. Treating the canvas like her own skin, she rubs these natural materials into raw fabric on the floor of her studio. It is a process akin to those she experienced in the Mazatec community, practiced to release trauma stored in the body.

In viewing the female body as an agent of the land, Yana considers acts of violence that can be inflicted on both. For Yana, painting is entrenched with a sexual energy and fetishisation of materials. She experiences the act of painting itself as sensual, wet and warm and spilling everywhere. Raw materials stain and seep into the surface of her canvases, challenging conceptions around dirt and purity and manifesting a relationship between land and body.

Meryl Yana (b.1998 Paris) is based between London and Mexico City. She studied at Chelsea College of Arts, London whereby she completed her BA of Fine Arts (2020). Yana recently had a solo exhibition at JO-HS, Mexico City (2023) following a residency. She completed a six-month residency at The Museum of Goa, India in 2020 which concluded with a solo exhibition at the museum in 2021. Recent group exhibitions include ZÉRUÌ Gallery, London (2023-24) and Max Radford, London (2021). Previously Yana has been part of the PADA Residency in Barreiro and the MONO Residency in Lisbon.