STATEMENT
My work exists in the space between past and present, where fragments of history and memory converge. Through a fusion of structured abstraction and figuration, I explore how time erodes and reshapes our memory of what struggles to remain. Inspired by ancient artifacts, broken sculptures, and aged, chipped and broken surfaces, I use fragmented form to evoke the way history is experienced both individually and collectively.
Layers of texture end with abstracted figures becoming metaphors for the passing of time, revealing traces of what was while suggesting what could be. Figures emerge with blurred edges, bodies incomplete yet charged with presence, like relics unearthed from long forgotten narratives. I am drawn to the magnetic beauty of imperfection, the missing piece, the obscured, as it reflects the way we piece together our understanding of the world.
By blending ancient influences with contemporary abstraction, I invite viewers to consider their own place in an ongoing continuum of history and transformation. My work is a dialogue between what has been, sometimes lost, and what remains. It hovers between the known and the mysterious, delicately balanced between the present and the past.
BIO
Ava Young was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Although the whole family was creative in various ways, Ava had no interest in art and skipped those classes entirely.
It wasn’t until her daughter was grown and after a move to Tucson, AZ that she suddenly developed an urge to paint. Ava spent the next eight years studying abstract painting and exploring a wide variety of textural materials and incorporating them into a portion of her work. Three years ago she moved to Sarasota Florida where she still lives, paints, and creates.
Over the last fifteen years, Ava’s work has been shown in galleries from Florida to Arizona to Washington state. Her paintings have been purchased by private collectors and she has recently had her work featured on the cover of the Spring 2024 issue of Season magazine which covers the southern Florida art and music scene.
“Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul – and you answer.” — Terri Guillemets
“Round and Round” is a mixed media painting on stretched canvas and measures 36″ x 48″.
