Mike Young
ID: A portrait of Mike Young in the studio. He is wearing a black sweater and a mask. His head is bent towards the paper as he adds color to an in-progress drawing. To his left a book is visible, open to a page showcasing a still life which he appears to be interpreting forms from in his current piece.
"Untitled" Colored Pencil and Ink on Paper, 18x12, 2023 Image Description: Collage-like drawn objects splayed across white page including an assortment of furniture, buildings and household objects.
"Untitled" Colored Pencil and Ink on Paper, 18x12, 2023. Image Description: Three striking creatures are depicted horizontally across the page, surrounded in soft light blue colored pencil. There is a face with green and blue horns and purple skin, its expressive asymmetrical features and open mouth reminiscent of a mask. Next, an alligator-like reptile with five arms and a curling tail. Then a large brick colored creature. Centered beneath is a small whale in profile.
"Untitled" Colored Pencil and Ink on Paper, 18x12, 2023. Image Description: A cluster of drawings of different chairs overlapping with one another over a white background.
"Untitled" Colored Pencil and Ink on Paper, 18x12, 2023. Image Description: An assortment of creatures and objects are depicted in various shades of brown and tan including a fish, three small birds and a human face with a blunt bob. In between, a handful of vessels resembling alternately goblets, vases, and corked bottles in blue, green and red.
"Untitled" Colored Pencil and Ink on Paper, 18x12, 2023. Image Description: A pair of open hands reaching downwards, palms facing out, bookended by to nude figures. Small objects around them including a syringe and flowers.
bio
Mike Young was born in 1966 at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, CA. His family relocated to Eugene, OR in 1974, and he moved to the Portland area with his sisters in 2010. Mike has been actively painting and drawing since childhood. Back at North Eugene Highschool in the 70’s, Mike’s hand-drawn greeting cards sold for $1 each, raising funds for additional supplies for the program. Mike is deaf, and he is blind in one eye and extremely nearsighted in the other. He draws inspiration from books and magazines, which Mike observes close up, bringing his face close enough to nearly touch the pigment and paper. He renders images with a unique proximity and attention to contour and outline, which is always emboldened by a dark pencil or brush. These myopic forms take on a specific object-hood and populate the page in interesting constellations. Mike is drawn to ornamental and architectural details, vessels, blue doors, symbols and icons, creatures and anatomy. Mike has a keenly developed skill with brushes and linework. At home, he practices painting on the pages of Real Estate magazines using a dry brush, outlining windows, doors, trees and chimneys with invisible marks. In April 2024 Mike was featured in his first solo show, A Berry, A Boot, A Building, A Blue Door at Elbow Room Gallery.
