Rani Young
Rani Young (pronounced RAH-nee) is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist—painter, illustrator, sculptor, installation artist, filmmaker, singer, actor, lyricist, and writer—who brings her professional skills as a graphic designer, motion graphics artist, and video editor into her art practice.
ARTIST’S 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 a multidisciplinary artist and I work within whatever medium suits 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.
Rani Young (pronounced RAH-nee) is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist—painter, illustrator, sculptor, installation artist, filmmaker, singer, actor, lyricist, and writer—who brings her professional skills as a graphic designer, motion graphics artist, and video editor into her art practice.
ARTIST’S 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 a multidisciplinary artist and I work within whatever medium suits 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.
$4,440.00
Oil on canvas.
24x36"
Another self-portrait, here the main character is caught looking at the viewer looking at her.
This self-portrait was painted during a time when I felt a call to become a painter. I had not painted in many years before completing this piece, and it marked an awakening for me as an artist.
$540.00
Acrylic on canvas board.
11x14"
Composite painting of a model with Van Gogh's Sunflowers.
I am a huge fan of Van Gogh, and fell in love with him first through words while reading "Dear Theo," a collection of Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo. In reading his words, I learned of a man of deep emotion and with so much purpose in each work of art he created. He was highly intelligent and sensitive. I later followed his work more closely after visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2015. After returning to my home in Chicago, I opened an event space the following year and began teaching a series of art classes. I developed a casual "Painting in Paris" night, during which time I taught participants how to paint various Van Gogh paintings. I taught hundreds of students to paint sunflowers, vases with lilacs, starry nights, flower fields, and other inspiring scenes. This piece began as a painting I created during one of these nights, and later was used as the backdrop on which I added a model, bringing together my interests in Van Gogh's brushwork and the creativity found in costuming and fashion.
$1,580.00
Oil on canvas.
16x20"
Brigit is the goddess of springtime. I painted this during the months of October 2019 and April 2020 as I anticipated the spring and thought about travel.
$235.00
Graphite on paper.
5x6"
Illustration of man looking down at woman with her eyes closed. Victorian/art nouveau/gothic.
$465.00
Vine charcoal and charcoal pencil on paper.
10.50x8.50"
Framed.
Tall residential buildings along Lakeshore Drive in Chicago as seen from Lincoln Park high-rise.
$250.00
Ink, conté and colored pencil on fabric.
6x7"
An avid lover of history and fashion, I was inspired by the "Fashion and The Field Museum Collection: Maria Pinto" show at the Field Museum in Chicago in 2012. There was a stunning emerald dress designed by Pinto that really captivated me, and I took many photos of it. I decided to draw it onto fabric--what more suitable material is there for a drawing of a dress? I used a ballpoint pen in a cross-hatching technique that paired well with the bias weave of the poly knit and created heightening with the addition of white conté pencil, plus a blush of my own color interpretation with a red colored pencil application.
$390.00
Oil on canvas.
8x10"
This painting was inspired by a photograph I saw of a model walking the runway in this gorgeous Valentino dress.
$285.00
Acrylic on canvas.
5.50x7.50"
This small object--a tiny painting in a gilded frame with velvet matting--seems like the type of treasure that might be found in a cabinet of curiosities. Small objects hold a special significance to me, and feel uniquely "curious."