Amber Jean Young is our May Window artist. Come see her ceramic urns in our window until June 15th. Come in during our business hours and speak your thoughts into these interactive creations.
1. Where are you from and how long have you been in the Bay Area? I am from the unincorporated Santa Cruz Mountains in the Bay Area. King's Mountain/ La Honda area.
2. What music have you been listening to lately? Is there an album that has been on heavy rotation? I've been listening to a lot of Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter and my kids are swifties so there is a lot of that too. The They Might Be Giants kids science album is back in the car rotation and I’ll listen to that even when they aren’t there. The diss tracks Kendrick put out are welcomed ear worms.
3. How did you come to clay? Shopping for my mother's urn in 2019 was a horrible, depressing experience, not just because she was dead, but because the options out there are so uninspiring. Luckily I found one I thought she would like but the experience got me thinking. I was painting at the time but I kept thinking how much I would like to make urns unlike anything I found when I was shopping. The containers that hold our most precious people should reflect the vibrancy of their lives, not the misery of their absence. It feels long overdo to be making sculpture again and these urns have been a meaningful return. I kept putting it off because I was painting and had a show, but finally found an instructor at the beginning of 2023 and now I'm hooked.
4. Are you a fan of any specific art movement? The Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970's and 1980's is pretty underrated but great. At the time it was maligned for being too folksy and feminine but I think that movement has stood up to time and informed a lot of the highly patterned compositions found in contemporary art.
5. How do you find ways to incorporate art into your life? I’m a big time day dreamer so for better or worse I am deep in my imagination thinking about my work a lot of the day. I’m also luckily enough to be in the studio most days so art is on my mind most of the time.
6. What is your favorite small business and what do you like best when you go there? I love Boichik Bagels in Berkeley. I love a good bagel and they make a great bagel. They also have black and white cookies that are chef’s kiss so shout out to boichik. Morning Tide on Solano Ave is also a great shop that sells really beautiful home goods and ceramics by Mi Piati. The shop has a lovely vibe.
7. Glitter or sequins? Sequins forever. Glitter is a nightmare.
8. Desert Island or crowded city? Desert Island, although I need a trees for shade.
9. Garfield or Odie? Garfield forever.
10. Dark chocolate or Milk? I will eat any available chocolate but milk is always preferred.