Karyn YOUNG

Born: 1955 in Montreal, Canada
Medium: Lithograph, Silkscreen, Collage, Handmade Papers

Karyn graduated from Goddard College in 1976. She then spent four years studying textile design and sculpture in the San Francisco Bay Area, before moving to Japan. In Kyoto she studied a variety of traditional Japanese arts–calligraphy, bingata stencil printing, tea ceremony, aikido, papermaking and flower arrangement. She then applied this broad and deep knowledge of the Japanese aesthetic to printmaking. In her mixed media work there is a combination of both traditional motifs with modern techniques, reflective of the 18 years spent living in Japan.

Although she has now returned to live in California, Karyn Young still makes paper from traditional materials. She also collects sundry items as she travels–playing cards, old discarded songbooks, maps, wrapping papers–any of which may become incorporated via collage into her artistic creations. Whether a print or a painting, Karyn manages to synthesize old and new, as well as East and West in her striking artwork. One favorite theme has been to use the kimono shape as a matrix to define the edges of a print. Karyn also explores the effect of texture in designs using coarse fibers with collage.

Exhibitions:
Kobe, Japan
Nishinomiya
CWAJ Print Show, Tokyo
San Francisco, California
Montreal, Canada
Osaka
Bodega Bay, California

Collections:
Suntory Company, Osaka
Chateau Champlain Hotel, Montreal
British Museum, London
Proctor & Gamble
Daichi Kyogo Bank