An Interview With Visual Artist Minnie Yung By Matthew Bogdanow

Escalator, 2020 Acrylic on canvas

 

Artist Statement provided by Minnie Yung

 

 

MB: I’ll just start with asking what medium or media do you usually work with.

MY: Over the years I’ve been working with a variety of mediums. Since highschool, 

I have been painting a lot because most of my highschool friends were painters, so 

I only had access to knowledge in painting. I do enjoy playing with gradients and 

different painting methods though, it is the most straightforward method to depict my 

inner vision of my surroundings. But when I got into art school, I wanted to experiment 

with other media because we have access to the materials in the studio. I became 

interested in drawing especially after taking a drawing class with Neil Wedman. Learning 

about negative and positive spaces, contouring, outlining, and the concept of drawing 

drew me into this medium. Also through drawing, I get to enjoy the privacy of making art, 

being able to sit, draw, and close my sketchbook. I enjoy photography and a bit of sculpture as well. I do photography because I enjoy observing the artifacts and architectures around me. As for making sculptures, I pursue because of the materials we have available to us in art school and I feel the need to use them for something, but I also find it very freeing and soothing to practice.

Untitled, 2018 Dried seaweed snack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MB:Do you feel like you're trying to find a medium that you want to focus more on, 

or do you just enjoy having that wide of a focus? 

MY: I enjoy having that wide of a focus. That, to me, is the freedom of being an artist: not being 

forced to work in only one medium and not having any real restrictions on your work.

MB: So why did you choose to pursue art?

MY: In high school I always hung out in the art room with all the art kids, and I always had an interest

in the subject. When I was younger, it was the only thing I could think of pursuing.

MB: So it just felt like a kind of natural progression?

MY: Yeah. It is a huge portion of my identity.

Untitled, 2019 Chinese calligraphy paper, pen

 

MB: So does your work focus on a main theme or do you have something you’re trying to achieve with your work?

MY: My themes always focus on what is present and on my mind. Because I use my surroundings as my inspiration, 

my work takes a personal focus most of the time.

MB: So would you say you use your work as a way to communicate what you feel?

MY: Definitely to some extent. There are also times when I want to advocate for something and I don’t really know 

how to do so through other forms, but I find I can do so through my art. 

Door, 2020 Acrylic on canvas

 

 

 

MB: Have you seen your practice change since you started at SFU?

MY: Before I started the visual art program, my practice used to be 

fully focused on drawing and painting and I didn’t know that art could 

extend across so many different mediums. My practice is still changing 

a lot, so much so that certainprofessors have commented on how

“all over the place” my work is.

 

MB: What is your dream project?

MY: My dream project is what I am currently working on in studio class. I've always wanted to make sculptures 

recreating insignificant events with my mother that play as a remedy in my later adult life, events like my mom 

washing my hair, cleaning my ears and etc. I say that it's a dream because I’m not as experienced and skilled 

in making paper mache sculptures, so I’m not sure how it would turn out.

MB: Alright, last question. Any super power, what would you choose?

MY: Teleporting, I guess. It’s pretty convenient, I mean I’m kind of lazy so cutting out commutes 

to a lot of different places would be pretty convenient for me. I could just go zoomp and I could 

be in school instead of taking an hour to get there. 

MB: That would be very nice. 

MY: Or to be invisible and creep on people… No no no no no! That’s illegal. I wouldn’t creep on 

people; I would just steal things, food.

MB: That’s also illegal.

MY: I mean, stealing is better than watching some stranger take a shower without them knowing, Right?

 

 

What Are These French Cookie Things, 2020