In Conversation With : Exhibition Review I
BrassTuna’s “IN CONVERSATION WITH: Exhibition Review” IS A CONVERSATIONAL INTERVIEW SERIES WHERE WE SIT DOWN WITH CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND DISCUSS their current or upcoming solo exhibitions.
(All conversations are recorded, and transcribed by BrassTuna.)
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity
Summer Raine Young - Sapphic Sanctuary
(September 20th - October 13th, 2024)
“The experience of home has been a consistent theme within Young's work-whether it was living with parents, an apartment on their own, or now living with their partner and four pets. While it has become a safe haven to explore their identity and freely express their emotions, there were times when they struggled to feel worthy of taking up space. In this new body of experimental cyanotype work, Young shows an intimate but playful look into their home life both past and present. They reflect on writings and drawings made when they were younger, to the simplicities of waking up next to someone they love. As a self described home body, Young is taking a look at how these various environments shift the way we see ourselves.”
(Text provided by @summyraine)
(Sapphic Sanctuary Exhibition opening night)
BrassTuna: Hello, Summer. Thank you so much for having me today; I am so excited to be here at your brand-new show! Could you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Summer: “Sure, my name is Summer Raine Young. I studied photography and continue to practice it in different ways.
I make a lot of self-portraiture work about my life, and it really came as a necessity to better understand myself and my identity as a queer person. Especially roughly ten years ago when things were still not where they are today.”
(If you would like to hear more about Summer and their artistic background, check out BrassTuna’s
“In Conversation With: Summer Raine Young” interview from May 2024.)
BrassTuna: Let’s go ahead and get into it!
We are currently here at your show, “Sapphic Sanctuary,” which is on view at Modified Arts from September 20th to October 13th, 2024.
Would you mind telling us about the topics that you cover in this show?
Summer: “Sure, like I said, I have always been interested in diving into my own identity and trying to understand myself better. It really came from a place where words were not my strong suit ,,, and I didn’t know how to talk about my emotions properly, and I've dealt with depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember.
I wasn’t sure how to express that using words. It just didn’t make sense to me, and I didn’t know many people who opened up about those struggles. So once I started diving into self-portraiture, it became a way to express how I was feeling in a more visual way, which I felt was a better way for me to communicate the things I was going through.
For this show, I wanted to focus more on my home life through different times. So, as a kid, what did that look like for me? When I lived alone and could kind of freely express myself in a space, what does that look like? And then more so, the present day, where I’m sharing a space with my partner for the first time. And our pets, and ,,, what does that look like from a queer perspective?
I did not see that representation a lot growing up. It was always very sexualized ,,, anything that had to do with two women living together, or in general, it was always sexualized or made into a joke. So I wanted to show the simplicity of a home between two people.”
BrassTuna: I love that whole overview you just gave. Especially because one of the first pieces that you see when you walk in is this cyanotype of Connect Four, it's like the “fun little things” of home.
Everything here ties together this idea of home so well.
(Exhibition photographed by BrassTuna)
BrassTuna: Next, would you mind telling us about the materials you used in the exhibition and their significance to the stories you share here?
Summer: “I really wanted to push myself into experimenting more with the cyanotype process.
I'll just quickly explain what that is.
It's basically a two-part chemical; it's an A and B part that is UV sensitive. So when you apply it to paper or fabric, and you lay something on top, whether it's a negative or anything that can leave an interesting outline or print, you place it in the sunlight for a given time, bring it back inside, and rinse it with water. Then you get your image.
So, I really wanted to experiment with that and get more hands-on. I felt like I just needed a break from typical digital prints. And I really love the process of working with my hands, and I feel like I was really missing that these past few years. I really wanted to go back to that.
I felt really tied to the color blue in the emotional aspect of my work.
I love the color blue, and I think I was drawn to that as well. So some of the larger scale pieces, like the curtains, were kind of the first pieces that led me into the whole aspect of the show because I wanted to make something that was the simple part of my house but something I really love about it.
It was just a simple pleasure; yeah, I wanted to work on a large scale in that sense and experiment with cyanotype.”
BrassTuna: I love the continuity here. I know we were discussing another piece that you have that didn’t make it into the show, but I think everything here really works well together and flows correctly.
I see in a couple of pieces here that they include paper documents. What was the process like of choosing these specific pieces?
Summer: “There are a couple of pieces that reflect back on my childhood drawings and writings; I went home about a year ago. Home is Baltimore, to visit family. My dad handed me this box of papers and was like, 'Here you go,' so I started looking through, and I found these papers that are in the vest called "Rainbow World Vest" and the piece "I can't forget to finish this."
The papers featured in "I can't forget to finish this" are three pieces of paper front and back where I was either punished, or it was maybe homework, but the three documents were just like 'I can't forget my homework,' or 'I can't forget to do my homework,' it was just these repetitive sentences that I had to write because I kept forgetting things.
The times between I was 3 and 17, I went back and forth from my mom and dad's house every two days. So, I was constantly leaving things behind. I think that kind of shaped me into who I am now. So when I saw those, they really spoke to adult me like, 'Oh my goodness, I still feel that,' and in the piece, the embroidery I left open-ended, and I think it really spoke to my younger self. Sometimes, outside things really affect the way you do things, and trauma can really hinder you.
When it comes to the vest, those were childhood drawings that I found in that same box of paperwork my dad gave me. I had dozens of drawings of rainbows *haha*
I was pulling them all out, and my dad was like, 'ok, that makes sense.'
And again, I thought it was like ,,, you look at your younger self, and you're like, 'We will get there, it's ok,' not that the rainbows necessarily meant that I was screaming I'm gay *haha*
I resonated with it as an adult.
For the piece "H.O.A. nonsense," I made the curtain piece before receiving those papers in the mail. I received an H.O.A. notice that said, "You've violated the building rules, and you didn't have permission to hang those plants up."
I knew I wanted to include them in the show because I wanted to show how simple it was. I love this aspect of my house, and then I get a notice like, "You need to take those down."
It's just funny because it's just one simple beauty that I enjoyed, so it was just like a silly take from me.”
(Assemblage of Prints, by Summer Raine)
BrassTuna: What takeaways do you have from this show, and what lessons did you learn while working on this body of work?
Summer: “I learned that I really enjoy experimenting, and I don't necessarily look for a clean-cut finished product. I think as long as there's a story that can be seen or felt, my point comes across.
That's kind of what's important to me, you know ,,, that feeling that others can take from it.
I think that's something I've always kind of felt, especially while experimenting or nervous about showing something, like my sewing skills. But I had a finished product in my mind, and I wanted to make it work. I'm proud that I could still do that ,,, just don't look super close to the details *haha*
But just being able to complete a vision, even if it is something you knew might be a struggle or something that may be new for you, like, so what? Just make it, and as long as your point comes across, that's what matters.”
BrassTuna: Last question: What can we expect from you next? Are there any upcoming events or shows we should be aware of?
Summer: “I think this show was ,,, I wanted to pivot ,,, a lot of my work has been about the negative experiences I've had and trying to work through them therapeutically, and this show was a turning point for me where I wanted to focus on more of the positives, and the little things I look forward to in my house, like the game night piece, or waking up every morning next to my artier.
So, I really want to continue with cyanotype.
I have a couple of ideas that are not exactly; well, they are pretty different from this. I want to interview my grandma and go through my family history. I don't want that to be something that gets forgotten. She has so many stories to tell, and she tells little snippets here and there, but I want to sit down and hear about our family history.
I recently learned how much mental illness has been through generations of my family, and I'd love to dive deep into that and learn how my family coped with that when there are still apprehensions about what therapy is.
So I kind of want to learn how they dealt with that and what my grandma may have experienced by seeing that herself. I would really like to pivot and focus on other people now. I feel I've done so much work about myself, and I'm sure that will continue as needed, but I want to start something totally different.”
BrassTuna: I am really looking forward to seeing everything you do next!
Thank you, Summer, for having me today!
(Recording of Mascara ‘Stache, by Summer Raine)
This conversation was recorded at Summer Raine Young’s solo exhibition Sapphic Sanctuary, on view from September 20th to October 13th at Modified Arts in Downtown Phoenix.
You can find Summer on Instagram @summyraine and their website