Kyla Yager
Kyla Yager is a Toronto based, New Orleans bred visual artist who utilizes her ADHD and mental health to intuitively guide her paintbrush. Kyla has been creating since early childhood, received her BFA in Visual Arts at York University in 2018, and completed OCAD’s Fineline Business Accelerator Certification in Summer 2023. She has been exhibiting professionally since early 2020 having been featured in juried art fairs, gallery exhibitions, publications, and Nuit Blanche 2023. She begins her process by playing with paint (acrylic, sometimes ink), and then subconsciously highlights hidden imagery within the medium. Repetition and pattern are her stimming, which adds to her maximalist signature style.
As a full time artist, Kyla facilitates intuitive art workshops, does live painting and face painting at events, paints murals, and loves collaborating with other artists. To learn more about Kyla, join her email list, or follow on socials, you can do so here: https://bio.site/kylayagerartwork
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Kyla has a passion for painting, portraying emotions and mindsets through her work. Struggling with ADHD and Mental Health, Kyla uses these as a tool to create her compositions. As her thoughts move a mile a minute, so does her paint brush. Use of hyper-detail, layering, and hidden imagery within her work tricks the eye into multiple perspectives, leading each and every viewer to see something different depending on how they look at it. Viewers may notice eyes hidden within the abstract patterns. These are eyes of empathy, encouraging viewers to unmask and connect with the artwork. Ultimately, Kyla hopes to inspire neurodivergent individuals to utilize their disabilities as positive and unique traits, being their truest, most genuine selves.
Kyla Yager is a Toronto based, New Orleans bred visual artist who utilizes her ADHD and mental health to intuitively guide her paintbrush. Kyla has been creating since early childhood, received her BFA in Visual Arts at York University in 2018, and completed OCAD’s Fineline Business Accelerator Certification in Summer 2023. She has been exhibiting professionally since early 2020 having been featured in juried art fairs, gallery exhibitions, publications, and Nuit Blanche 2023. She begins her process by playing with paint (acrylic, sometimes ink), and then subconsciously highlights hidden imagery within the medium. Repetition and pattern are her stimming, which adds to her maximalist signature style.
As a full time artist, Kyla facilitates intuitive art workshops, does live painting and face painting at events, paints murals, and loves collaborating with other artists. To learn more about Kyla, join her email list, or follow on socials, you can do so here: https://bio.site/kylayagerartwork
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Kyla has a passion for painting, portraying emotions and mindsets through her work. Struggling with ADHD and Mental Health, Kyla uses these as a tool to create her compositions. As her thoughts move a mile a minute, so does her paint brush. Use of hyper-detail, layering, and hidden imagery within her work tricks the eye into multiple perspectives, leading each and every viewer to see something different depending on how they look at it. Viewers may notice eyes hidden within the abstract patterns. These are eyes of empathy, encouraging viewers to unmask and connect with the artwork. Ultimately, Kyla hopes to inspire neurodivergent individuals to utilize their disabilities as positive and unique traits, being their truest, most genuine selves.
$2,200.00
Acrylic on canvas.
24x36"
This piece embodies the feeling of putting too much brain power into too many things at the same time, leading to burnout, anxiety, and overwhelm. We put too much on our plates, we don't have enough brain power for that!
$350.00
Acrylic on wood panel.
16x12"
This piece contains a collection of collaged "paint peel" from painting's past, dabbed with a colour-filled sponge and set in place with mod podge.
$1,200.00
Acrylic on canvas.
30x15"
That feeling when you can’t get up from the couch even though you really want to, but you are stuck.
$350.00
Acrylic on canvas.
12x16"
As a softer approach to the artist’s style, Look Softer tends to bring a less intense outlook to the neurodivergent mind. This piece also encourages the viewer to create a softer, more manageable narrative to put less pressure on themselves in their everyday lives.
$1,300.00
Acrylic on wood panel.
24x20"
A painted portrayal of the side effects of going on antidepressants.
$1,900.00
Acrylic on canvas.
30x30"
This piece embodies feeling like an outcast in an environment that doesn’t recognize mental health. Surrounded by verbal abuse and alcoholism, the artist was only able to complete this painting after moving out and leaving the toxicity behind.
$2,200.00
Acrylic and ink on canvas.
36x24"
This piece began as a cry for help in a lonely state of mind, then left uncompleted for months, as it was symbolic of the unresolved mental struggle between the fear of being alone versus the joy of solitude. After ending toxic relationships in both work and personal life, I was able to enjoy being alone.
$2,300.00
Acrylic and ink on canvas.
36x36"
"Flashback" represents the memories associated with being home, while also giving off a subtle tension that comes with being stuck in quarantine with family members.
$2,200.00
Acrylic on canvas.
24x36"
Live painted two days after setting a boundary and going no-contact with a narcissist family member. This was the aftermath of emotions flooded through the artist's paintbrush.
$3,000.00
Acrylic and ink on canvas.
36x48"
This is your brain on ADHD: headspace that is overcrowded and chaotic, yet incredibly exhilarating.
$750.00
Acrylic on canvas.
24x18"
"Organ-ic" was painted to the sounds of an organ, music by Sam Kohler in New Olreans, LA.
Pained in 2019.
