Tyler Young
he/they
Portland, OR, USA
Tyler Young is a Portland based artist that received his BA in ceramics and jewelry and a minor in philosophy from San Diego State University in 2021. Young is a multimedia craft artist using jewelry to explore the workings of identity.
“I am interested in the moments that hold personal significance to us. Specifically, I am attracted to the mundane and banal objects that we wear or keep that reflect our own identity and how our identity can be personified through these objects. Personally, the art I create is fundamental to understanding my identity. Gestural painting has always been a meditative process that allows me to transform the surfaces and forms of the materials I work on. Overall, the art I create studies abstract notions of identity by transforming craft objects with painting techniques that I identify with.”
What does being queer mean to you in relation to your material choices? Is it something you consider?
“My material choices are not necessarily informed by queerness; rather, the subject matter I depict is informed by my queerness. I find that learning more about my queer identity and queerness in general has had a large impact on the things I want to make. As I grow older, my desire to learn more about the history/oppression towards Asian American and queer people grows (groups that I identify with). In conjunction with this, it becomes easier to recognize patterns and oppression and historical hierarchies towards other marginalized communities. My recent work reflects this recent growth. Although at times, my work doesn’t directly depict queerness, it does reflect on other oppressed groups that have been marginalized similarly."
"I'm sorry", Copper, brass, wood, tape, and acrylic paints on stretch canvas, 10" x 10" x 1", 2023Is the work queer because the maker is queer, or is it queer because the subject matter is queer?
“I think that the work is queer because the maker is queer. Not too long ago, I was very indifferent to making work directly related to my identity, especially my queer identity. As I have been more comfortable with my identity, the relationship between queerness and the work I make seems inseparable regardless of the subject. At times, I think artists and art appreciators debate when to examine just the work and consider the identity and ideology of the artists. However, I find that looking at the work in a vacuum comes with a certain privilege of being able to only ruminate over abstract ideals depicted in art. Regardless of what my work depicts, it was made by a proudly Queer Asian American and I don’t want my personal narrative to be removed from my work."
Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“I'm sorry, considers my guilt with current events. At times, I feel as though I am culpable for the deplorable state of the world due to the mere act of existing without actively making change in the world. The phrase “I'm sorry” is meticulously sawn out of metal and stamped onto the surface of the painting as a therapeutic process to deal with my own tendency to be overly apologetic for anything that happens around me. Rather than repeatedly repeating an apologetic phrase, slowly sawing and filing the letters considers the genuinity of a particular phrase I use if I only use it as a means to alleviate guilt from myself in that instance. Overall, I’m sorry considers the shift in my attitude from one that places guilt and shame on myself to one that allows me to feel empowered for change."