In between teaching at NSCAD summer art camps, artist Charley Young is taking time to exhibit pieces from her Nova Scotia Talent Trust award-winning work for her shared show with Katie Belcher at Studio 21 Fine Art (Aug 23-Sep 11). You’d do well to catch her opening, because she doesn’t stay in one place for long. Splitting her time between Halifax, the Maine College of Art—where she’s completing her Master’s—and various residencies that will take her to Banff and an island near the North Pole, Young’s practice is nomadic right now, and she likes it that way. Her work is nomadic too, you can also catch a glimpse of Young’s work behind local pop queen Jenn Grant on her fall tour—Young’s Phantom Limb will serve as a backdrop to Grant’s performances.
For Young, the local love is important. “Sometimes you can sit in your studio by yourself listening to CBC all day and you don’t know if your work is connecting with anyone or if anyone appreciates it. It seems vain at times,” she says. “It was nice to be coming from Nova Scotia to be recognized within your own town.”
Studio 21 will be showing five of Young’s drawings or paper image transfers on mylar, that serve as sort of blueprints for pieces she wants to execute on a larger scale. “Sometimes I get the reference of the drawings of Christo and Jeanne-Claude,” says Young. “I’m not comparing myself to them in any way, but I do get that reference a lot.” It’s an understandable leap. Young’s large scale textile pieces like “Carbon Copy: The Charles Morris Building” created for 2010’s Nocturne with Sarah Haydon Roy bring the duo’s “Wrapped Reichstag” to mind. The Studio 21 show could show you a peek at Young’s next large scale offering. “I always like thinking about architecture and place and sight,” Young says. “I usually include little notes if I was thinking about something while working. I’ll document it on the page. I just outline themes, topics, installation possibilities that might come from drawings, maybe a title, anything sign in terms of scale or sight.” Pay close attention to the margins on Friday.