The Japanese born and raised Yoskay Yamamoto moved to the California in his mid-teens and, some would say, that was where he was truly born; for it was on the West coast that Yamamoto fell in love with pop culture, which his iconic work constantly fuses with traditional elements of his Japanese heritage. For roughly three years, Yamamoto has been quietly crafting lovingly rendered sculptures that transform childhood obsessions into works of beautiful art that invoke nostalgia. The show, entitled "Joke's On Me…," opened March 24th at LaBasse Projects's Chinatown location (923 Chunk King Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90012) and it will be available for viewing until April 21st.

Upon entering the exhibit, the numerous sculptures are displayed on little table islands, giving each piece the room to breathe and be enjoyed. In the below pictured display you can see "Be Patient With Me" front and center, with "Big Headed Boy" and the Winnie the Pooh parody "Sleepooh" flanking.

Since all the items on the next table are painted black, it might be more difficult to view the details and we apologize for that. Starring directly at the camera is a jest on the Frank Kozik platform titled "Wabbit," behind which — left to right — are the Pikachu mockery "Battamon 2," the "Gen + Nini" figure set, the mutated Stitch figure "Abchu," and the reformed Godzilla known as "Yoskazilla."

After which you discover the back-to-back plushes "Sleep With Me" (front) and "Cuddle With Me" (rear).

Then there's the wonderfully self-explanatory "Just Be KAWS," who has a Bart Simpson-esqe piece entitled "I'm Not Fat, I'm Just An American" on the left and everybody's favorite Ghostbusters baddie redubbed "Stay Puffy."

The devil holding the wooden spoon is "Trying To Be More Practical," while the aptly named "Pretty Vacant" empty head rests between it and the other Pokemon inspired piece, "Battamon."

Behind the above pieces are: "Sorry For Ruining Your Moment," "Mr. Drib" who comes with quite a few placard signs (as you can see below) and "Jolly The Green Not So Giant" 1 & 2.

Then there are two variations of Hello Kitty sculptures: "Oops, I Did It Again" (below center) and "Who's The Daddy?" (below right). On the left hand side is deranged Cupid called "F*** Me…"

On one wall there are four untitled mounted sculpture heads, each complete with antlers and deer-like ears:

Which contrast nicely with the pedestals of hand-made vases, most of which have simple names like "Pot Head."

But the really breathtaking draw in the room is the massive installation assemblage, which is covered with tiny pieces that are easily lost in the whole but also require the viewer to dig deeper than a cursory viewing would allow…

All the images in this article are courtesy of the Arrested Motion blog.