Control Freak (Statement)

I was raised by my mother, my father having passed when I was 1 year old. Once, when riding in the car, I asked her to promise me she would not die before I graduated college. I believed that if she promised me, her subconscious would adhere and her body would act accordingly. I was trying to gain control over something I knew was ultimately beyond reach.

That search for control has manifested in different ways throughout my life. In my adolescence, I would record every “to do” in my agenda book, filling it with tiny, nearly illegible writing until it resembled a dread-filled mosaic of responsibilities. It's challenging to recall any specific contents of those notes, but perhaps that's the point. None of the individual items held great significance, yet I had given each a weight in my mind. Bordering obsession, this was my way of imposing order onto an unruly world.

I think about what it means to be in control. The world feels like the wild west to me. Creating gives me the full control I can’t find anywhere else. I always get to be the star when making art. It's a strange paradox to claim the role of a star when I find myself alone, performing for no one but myself. Yet, within this realm, I am undeniably the star—the master of my own universe, wielding complete control over the narrative, characters, and settings that I bring to life. When I am sculpting I am a creator and when I am painting I am a romantic.

I was diagnosed with autism in my late twenties. It’s funny because every autistic person is neurodivergent in a different way, so we are all different while also being the same. My brain becomes overwhlemed processing a lot of information because it tends to spend a lot of time considering different view points. Thoughts are inherently formless and that can be terrifying because it can be hard to know what the truth is. Giving physical form to my thoughts gives me power over them while also helping me to understand them. Within my work, I can earnestly acknowledge my melodrama, existential rummagings and ego while simultaneously making fun of how inconsequential it all is. I take what is real and I exaggerate it until it becomes even real-er and then perhaps becomes something else entirely.

Bio

Daniel Young creates sculptures of ceramic and found objects, among other mediums and processes, that reflect an individual considering their own impermanence while still holding out hope in the unknown. His work underlies musings on death, desire, nature, and human behavior in exploration of this idea. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he moved to New York City to attend The Cooper Union, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2015. Daniel currently resides with his husband in San Francisco.