Rani Young
Biographical Info Bio: Rani Young is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist working in oil painting, illustration, video, music, motion graphics, and more. She received a Post-Baccalaureate in Art & Technology Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Colorado State University. The recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, her work has been exhibited at the North Dakota Museum of Art, Oak Park Art League, and ArtPrize, among others. An enthusiastic promoter of Chicago art and music, Rani co-founded the gallery and event space Transistor and later launched her spinoff solo venture, Resistor. She has taught art and design classes to over 1,000 students. As lead singer in three bands–Girl Detective, Eve Black, and Dream House (Siouxsie & the Banshees Tribute)–Rani brought in elements of video, costuming, and object design. She is also a graphic designer and motion graphics artist (examples are here: raniyoungdesign.com) and has collaborated with a number of artists, most recently her twin sister Colleen Woolpert (see their work at colleenandrani.com). Statement: Born as a twin on Halloween, I have always been drawn to the idea of becoming a character as well as finding and expressing my own unique identity. I am an interdisciplinary artist and I work within whatever medium suites my needs in the moment, whether drawing, painting, music, writing, sculpture, or space design. I live and work in my art studio surrounded by the characters and scenes that originate in my mind and spill out onto my canvases, as if I am living within a book or a film, and I often utilize self-portraiture as a way of changing costume and working out identity. I grew up painting, drawing, singing to myself, and reading Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie. I loved to feel like I was unraveling some mystery, and I still feel like I am doing just that when I’m figuring out how to depict something on canvas or create an effect I want using a technology tool. I work professionally as a graphic designer and a motion graphics/video artist, and my graphic sensibilities and interest in motion factor into my paintings. And, to an equal degree, my paintings have always felt like film stills. I’ve recently gotten into filmmaking and acting, and now worlds are truly colliding. The road to interdisciplinary art began when I started trying to tackle a visual impairment I experienced since youth. In taking on the challenge of learning to see with depth perception after a life of living with monocular vision (only seeing out of one eye at a time), my practice expanded.
Artist Type artist
Location Chicago
Short Description I am an interdisciplinary artist … a painter, illustrator, sculptor, installation artist, filmmaker, singer, actor, lyricist, writer … And I bring my professional skills as a graphic designer, motion graphics artist, and video editor into my art practice.
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raniyoungart
Art01
RaniYoung_paintings.jpg
Art02
RaniYoung_drawings.jpg
Art03
RaniYoung_music.jpg
