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Artist/Maker
Yashua Klos
(American, born 1977)
Date2025
MediumWoodblock print on muslin, Japanese rice paper, acrylic, oil paint, colored pencil, and wood on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 51 × 93 3/4 in. (129.5 × 238.1 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, William G. Roehrick '34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund
Object number2025.17
Not on view
DescriptionWhere Is My Gold? (Where The Fire Is?) builds upon existing works in the Wellin collection and expands upon the narratives and creative development of the artist. In this work, Klos considers how “rest is a point of entry: an incubation period and act of recalibration in response to American systems that have long demanded relentless output. The unmoving figure lies across a gridded blueprint of Art Deco motifs.” Over time, Klos has continued to incorporate family members into his work and Where Is My Gold? (Where The Fire Is?) depicts Klos’s cousin Page, who initially connected Klos to his patrilineal side of the family. This signature work is the second in a three-part series that explores the terrain between rest and labor. According to Klos:
The same reclining figure appears across all three, each time within a different heat center—a chromatic and emotional shift that signals shifting states of reflection. In this piece, warmth radiates from the background in deep oranges and rust tones, suggesting a slow burn. The title is a provocation: Where Is The Gold? It asks what has been extracted, withheld, or lost. Where Is The Fire? It signals that transformation is near, even if not yet visible. The work holds that tension, meditating on unseen labor, speculative architecture, and the endurance of bodies that carry memory as a blueprint and imagination as fuel.
Additional Details
Signature
Verso, right edge (sideways, black marker): "Y Klos 2025"
Inscribed
Verso, right edge (sideways, black marker): "WHERE IS MY GOLD? / (WHERE THE FIRE IS?)"
Yashua Klos
Date: 2022
Medium: Woodcut print on muslin and oil-based, relief block ink on canvas, acrylic, spray paint, Japanese rice paper, mounted on drop cloth
Object number: 2022.4
Yashua Klos
Date: 2018
Medium: Collage with woodcut prints and graphite on paper
Object number: 2019.1
Yashua Klos
Date: 2021
Medium: Stained and charred maple
Object number: 2022.2
Jamea Richmond-Edwards
Date: 2018
Medium: Pigment print with silkscreen diamond dust and gold foil
Object number: 2020.1
Edwin W. Dickinson
Date: February - March 1940
Medium: Oil on canvas
Object number: 2016.8.1
Zana Briski
Date: 2020
Medium: Unique gold-toned photogram on gelatin silver paper
Object number: 2024.12.1
Alisa Sikelianos-Carter
Date: 2024-2025
Medium: Unique wall-mounted giclée print hand-embellished with glitter; floor sculpture in acrylic, gouache, synthetic hair worn by the artist, handmade paper, black mica, glitter, and glass on wood
Object number: 2025.3.1-2