MaiYap Explores Heritage at Edge Zones Miami

MaiYap, “Utter Devotion,” 2026, Incense sticks, glue, wood panels. 82 diameter x 6 inches, is featured in the artist’s exhibition “A House of Small Alters” at Edge Zones Miami. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

MaiYap’s exhibition “A House of Small Altars” uses familiar objects from the artist’s home to create a narrative about the domicile of the living archive. Four small altars, each visible from the entryway to the gallery space at Edge Zones Miami, “A House of Small Altars” features two wall installations, “Las Poroteras” and “Utter Devotion,” then “Over the Moon” on a pedestal and “The Gathering,” which hangs from the ceiling.

The independent artists space in Miami, Edge Zones is sustained through community support to allow artists the ability to experiment, grow, and share work and  is one of Miami’s longest-running independent arts organizations. MaiYap’s exhibition, curated by Sophie Bonet, situates personal history within this broader context of artistic experimentation and community access.

MaiYap, “Las Poroteras,” 2026. Porcelain cups, ink, beans, organza bags. 32 x 60 x 4 inches. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

MaiYap, an artist of Chinese ancestry, born and raised in Panama, is invested in exploring the differences in her household versus that of her peers. She plumbs her life experience to present the combination of her heritage and family life colored by life in her home country of Panama.

“Las Poroteras” (“The Bean Plants”) is a grid-style installation, eight across with six rows, 48 in all. Small wood shelves hold a single Chinese rice cup, which the artist hand painted. MaiYap used the traditional blue on white Chinoiserie-style, depicting scenes from Panama. In contrast, they all are overfilled with “frijoles rojas.” This simple pairing represents the artist herself, her self-portrait, Chinese on the outside, Panamanian inside.

On the wall directly visible from the entryway is “Utter Devotion,” a simple geometric assemblage of nine circular, fan-like, arrangements of incense sticks, some with tiny Chinese characters in red and green. The sticks are matte dark blue, deep crimson and gold, three up and three across. These sit atop bamboo squares which float on a large circle that measures at almost seven feet in diameter.  The circle is a warm Chinese red not unlike the national flag of China.

MaiYap, “Over the Moon,” 2026. Sculpting clay, ink, fabric. 43 x 18 x 13 inches. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

This piece is a twist on Geometric Abstraction as it is given meaning through the materials and the color. The texture of bamboo and  incense can also be found in her paintings. These, however, are made with a pallet knife and paint applied as an impasto, implying this texture resonates with the artist. MaiYap’s personal narrative can be further explored on her website which details her mother’s daily ritual of lighting incense and giving prayer to Guan Yu, the Chinese warrior god of wealth.

A Chinese tradition is the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival. Much like the intention of Thanksgiving, it is a celebration of abundance, harvest and gratitude. With “Over the Moon,” MaiYap communicates the duality of her heritage and her life experience through an intertwining of fabrics: one Chinese and one Panamanian, which encase a vessel holding the multitude of Moon Cakes sculptures.  Historically they are seen as an offering of the celebration of resistance and love. Additionally, they have a political history dating from the 13^th century and held secret communications within to overthrow the Mongol Dynasty.

MaiYap received the Green Space Award 2024 from Green Space Miami for her installation  “The Gathering.” Chinese soup spoons were laid on a neatly arranged round table, each with Chinese characters and their translation into Spanish or English. Underneath was the crimson red tablecloth oftentimes seen in Chinese restaurants. Her education in advertising and graphic design from the University of Georgia shows through the placement of objects in her work. Additionally, her father owned a general store in Panama, and one can imagine she grew up among shelves and rows of items in neat organization, perhaps another influence.

MaiYap, “The Gathering,” 2026. Porcelain, ink and Panamanian jute twine. 110 x 49 x 43 inches. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

MaiYap reignites this soup spoon piece at Edge Zones by reforming them into a hanging installation. Rather than being earth bound on the table, the spoons float in the air like a murmuration of birds. They cast a shadow on the floor, further bringing the room into play in the installation. The weight of the spoons draws the strings taught, holding the ceramics tight. Their pure white paired with the blue script bring an ethereality to the piece. The words written on them, such as humanity, peace, mercy, integrity, and kindness, are aspirations which can only be held in the mind and thereby have the lightness of hope.

Every element in MaiYap’s works carry symbolic weight. The strings suspending the spoons are the kind her father used to wrap people’s purchases in paper in the store before plastic bags became supermarket staples. Here she looks to the past and reconfigures it via her design sense.

Through this quiet accumulation of domestic objects and ritual materials, MaiYap constructs a space addressing memory and devotion in convergence with design. They transform the intimacy of home into an altar where personal history, neither fixed or nostalgic, is continually present. The multivalent symbology presented through the clever interpretation of MaiYap creates an intriguing proposition.

WHAT: MaiYap: A House of Small Altars

WHERE: Edge Zones 3317 NW 7th Ave. Circle, Miami

WHEN: Through Saturday, March 21. Special events: Chinese New Year Celebration, Saturday, Feb. 21, 1 to 3 p.m.  with origami (Spaces are limited, contact artist directly), 5 to 7 p.m., Saturday, March 7, artist talk; 3 to 5 p.m., Saturday, March 21,  curator’s guided tour.

COST: Free

INFORMATION: 305-303-8852 and edgezones.org, or the artist: text 305-725-8630 or maiyap@bellsouth.net.

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