Young grew up in Los Angeles, loving art, spending hours at end drawing and painting, and making and sewing her own dolls and clothes. After receiving a B.A. in Philosophy and a minor in Studio/Visual Arts focusing on oil painting, she proceeded to studying law and graduating with a J.D. However, it was only a matter of time that she returned to her love of art and design, eventually receiving her degree in Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design. In her body of work, melding her past experiences and passion together, Young combines elements from art, design, and craft. Stylistically, using paper as her main form of expression with simple lines and geometric shapes, Young’s studio practice strives to achieve minimalist aesthetics. She appreciates the balance between unornamented austerity in the physical form with complex and nuanced nature of the craftsmanship involving layering, molding and sanding paper by hands.
Published on March 20th, 2020. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What projects are you working on right now?
I am currently working on a series that involves ripping and peeling paper after building up layers of paper on a canvas. In the past, I mainly worked on pieces by sanding down layers with sand paper instead of peeling them by hand. This new series began in spring of 2019, and I’m thrilled to further explore and experiment with the idea and technique. In the latest piece in this new series, I’ve also incorporated Chinese calligraphy paper. I ordinarily tend to use coarser and more texturized paper, as they can take the ripping better than more tender paper. So, using more delicate paper such as calligraphy paper is certainly a novelty, and it also poses interesting conundrum and challenge for me.
How do you keep yourself accountable in your practice?
I’m constantly looking for opportunities to show my work through various means such as gallery shows as well as art fairs. By doing so, there are strict deadlines to meet and a certain number of pieces I must create which motivate me to be diligent about producing work. I work on a regular basis as if I have to go into the office. Everyday, I put in the work and hours in my creative endeavors, which to me, is really the same as any other work – what you put in, you get back. As a creative person, I realize that serendipitously creative moments also come only after several hours of working on my paintings. Working in this particular way – keeping strict schedule and deadlines while allowing much flexibility in my creative process and thinking – I have been blessed with many happy accidents and discovered certain techniques and methods I would not have otherwise.
How do you stay motivated to pursue your creative work?
Art is full time work for me. Thus, everything and everyday life experience motivate creativity; every encounter with things and people alike, and visceral experiences such as reading, seeing, smelling, and feeling provide me with ideas for my paintings. I really think that life itself is an art form, and I try to make it as beautiful and meaningful as possible. The challenge is to closely pay attention to and cavernously absorb everything and every moment of what I’m experiencing internally and externally – and, eventually, to transfer that as earnestly as possible onto a canvas. Most of the times, we tend to live reactively; rather, I try to imbue meaning into my life proactively, seeing and feeling the depth of my experiences. That to me is my creative process, and that intention motivates me to this creative way of living and engaging in my art work.
Where do you hope to be 10 years from now and what would you like to say to yourself?
I would love to have had a solo show in a contemporary art museum. I know it is quite ambitious, and I try not to think about my “goals” too much in fear that I might become stagnant devoid of spontaneity. Years ago, I saw an artist giving a talk in a museum, and I sometimes daydream what it would be like to show and share my work with other fellow artists and art lovers as he did in that kind of a forum. I would love to experience that; and, should I be so lucky to have that experience, I would say to myself to savor everything and each moment. But, in the meantime, what I have, where I am, and where I’m headed seem to be an amazingly and a perfectly satisfying journey just the way it is. I’m wholeheartedly appreciating the privilege of working as an artist and trying not to take anything for granted. I’m so proud of having my occupation as an artist.
What projects are you working on right now?
I am currently working on a series that involves ripping and peeling paper after building up layers of paper on a canvas. In the past, I mainly worked on pieces by sanding down layers with sand paper instead of peeling them by hand. This new series began in spring of 2019, and I’m thrilled to further explore and experiment with the idea and technique. In the latest piece in this new series, I’ve also incorporated Chinese calligraphy paper. I ordinarily tend to use coarser and more texturized paper, as they can take the ripping better than more tender paper. So, using more delicate paper such as calligraphy paper is certainly a novelty, and it also poses interesting conundrum and challenge for me.
How do you keep yourself accountable in your practice?
I’m constantly looking for opportunities to show my work through various means such as gallery shows as well as art fairs. By doing so, there are strict deadlines to meet and a certain number of pieces I must create which motivate me to be diligent about producing work. I work on a regular basis as if I have to go into the office. Everyday, I put in the work and hours in my creative endeavors, which to me, is really the same as any other work – what you put in, you get back. As a creative person, I realize that serendipitously creative moments also come only after several hours of working on my paintings. Working in this particular way – keeping strict schedule and deadlines while allowing much flexibility in my creative process and thinking – I have been blessed with many happy accidents and discovered certain techniques and methods I would not have otherwise.
How do you stay motivated to pursue your creative work?
Art is full time work for me. Thus, everything and everyday life experience motivate creativity; every encounter with things and people alike, and visceral experiences such as reading, seeing, smelling, and feeling provide me with ideas for my paintings. I really think that life itself is an art form, and I try to make it as beautiful and meaningful as possible. The challenge is to closely pay attention to and cavernously absorb everything and every moment of what I’m experiencing internally and externally – and, eventually, to transfer that as earnestly as possible onto a canvas. Most of the times, we tend to live reactively; rather, I try to imbue meaning into my life proactively, seeing and feeling the depth of my experiences. That to me is my creative process, and that intention motivates me to this creative way of living and engaging in my art work.
Where do you hope to be 10 years from now and what would you like to say to yourself?
I would love to have had a solo show in a contemporary art museum. I know it is quite ambitious, and I try not to think about my “goals” too much in fear that I might become stagnant devoid of spontaneity. Years ago, I saw an artist giving a talk in a museum, and I sometimes daydream what it would be like to show and share my work with other fellow artists and art lovers as he did in that kind of a forum. I would love to experience that; and, should I be so lucky to have that experience, I would say to myself to savor everything and each moment. But, in the meantime, what I have, where I am, and where I’m headed seem to be an amazingly and a perfectly satisfying journey just the way it is. I’m wholeheartedly appreciating the privilege of working as an artist and trying not to take anything for granted. I’m so proud of having my occupation as an artist.
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