ELAINE YOUNG
楊綺鈴 YANG YI LING
Elaine Young | STUDIOPHORIA is an artist and designer with a background in bioethics and medical anthropology. Elaine’s wearable statements attract people to engage in questions concerning the effects of technology on the politics of how we know, define, value, care for and govern biodiversity, the body and bodies in real life and across realities as a material, data, citizens and souls.
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I draw inspiration from research about the politics, realities and science-fiction of:
health and technology as basic human rights during times of war and peace
medical innovation and its effects on concepts of diversity and disability
humanitarian and therapeutic vs capitalistic applications of AI and VR
and how science challenges our notions of the significance of life on Earth
I seek to attract people to engage in difficult questions concerning the effects of technology on the politics of how we know, define, value and govern biodiversity by communicating through the intimacy of designing wearable objects - such as streetwear and jewelry.
I want my work to be enjoyed for its style in textures, color, quality, function and form, but loved because the wearer feels emboldened in my designs that amplify the spirit of shared concerns.
My wanderlust and desire to be a fluid cross-cultural communicator has driven me to capture the insights of international experiences in the commercial, creative and academic worlds. I’ve produced and curated art and design exhibitions; events and trade shows for the biotech industry; designed, constructed and installed sets for television and film; been a stylist, choreographer and dancer for music videos; and developed fashion and jewelry from concept to final product. I’m grateful for this journey that has made Tokyo, Hong Kong, Toronto and now New York, home.
Since moving to New York, I was invited to be a part of NEW INC (2018-2020), the NEW MUSEUM’s cultural incubator for creative entrepreneurs; a member of Genspace (2019-present), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting science literacy through citizen access to biotechnology; a volunteer for Apex For Youth as an Educator on Cultural Theory, as well as a judge and educator for the Biodesign Challenge.
I’m currently volunteering with the Adaptive Design Association, a non-profit transforming the lives of individuals with disabilities by inventing and producing innovative, low-cost adaptive design solutions for over 25 years.
Thank-you for visiting,
Elaine
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STUDIO = a place for the study and practice of art and design
PHORIA = (1) most commonly associated with an intense emotional state or tendency, such as euphoria or dysphoria; (2) in ophthalmology, phoria refers to a turning or deviation of the eye away from the normal alignment of the visual axis that renders images out of focus.
