Walk on by

Jake Yang’s art practice explores queer youth culture and the way it sits alongside and intersects with his cultural background, raised in a conservative traditional Chinese culture. In Yang’s work privacy, intimacy, care, and freedom are celebrated in lush, safe natural environments.

He challenges normative assumptions through an examination of intersecting identities and existing in three very different cultures simultaneously. His practice explores internal conflict, a sense of fracture as well as the longing for cross-sacredness and celebration of safe spaces. 

In this solo exhibition Yang uses painting and textile sculpture to explore the glorified and fierce Asian figure, and the process of neglect, acceptance, and celebration of culture reflected in his relationship with identity.