Statement

My work has evolved gradually over the last 15 years in a way that has inspired me to move toward art inspired by the natural world's objects and textures.

As an independent graphic artist running a successful business, the level of focus and attention to detail left me little time or energy to pursue the artistic creativity I sought in creating fine art.

If I were to name an artist who's influenced this direction, it would be Andy Goldsworthy; after coming upon his 1990 book Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature in a library, I was intrigued by the depictions of his work in an outdoor environment.

A pivotal moment for me as an artist occurred in 2004 at the Austin Museum of Art, where I had the good fortune of seeing Mountain and Coast Autumn into Winter, Goldsworthy's traveling exhibit.

His sculptures, often placed in nature and created with organic elements like water, stones, wood, and earth, sparked my desire to explore a similar path, creating art that encompasses and is set in the natural world.

I'm inspired to paint, draw, and create pieces that include the shapes, colors, and textures I find in the world's natural settings, forests, mountains, and oceans.

My career as a professional graphic artist and illustrator, both in-house and later as a freelance consultant for clients like Jack Morton, Cisco Systems, and JUMBOshrimp Digital agency, was fruitful and lucrative. This work gave me experience and skills in design that shaped me as an artist today.

However, I longed for the creativity I learned to unleash after work hours when I dedicated myself to creating art that spoke to me in another language, separate from the one I said in my daily commissions and assignments.

In the last three years, I've dedicated myself to pursuing this path through classes and artist workshops in Mexico and beyond, where I worked with master teachers and learned new techniques.

In 2020, I had an opportunity to work in South Africa as part of a Remote Year program. This unique four-month live/work opportunity required participants to choose four countries where they'd like to live and work. I chose Portugal, Spain, South Africa, and Croatia.

While in Cape Town, South Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic descended on the world, and the program shut down. I decided to stay there anyway and find an apartment to focus on working on my art in solitude while public life almost wholly came to a halt.

I took advantage of the freedom Remote Year granted to create my plan and go off and explore creative opportunities.

In South Africa, I spent time with a local artist named Peta, who taught me watercolor techniques she called "paint in the wild"; we painted for three days in a lush local garden. This experience became my ad hoc artist residency abroad program.

Another experience I found on Camps Bay Beach in South Africa, Cape Town, influenced how to use natural elements, such as sand. I befriended one sand sculpture artist, who artfully sculpted three large fish from sand, and I'd see him working daily. After bringing him a coffee one day, he invited me to join him in finishing the piece.

Creating a work that depended on carrying buckets of wet sand 200 feet offshore to avoid the rising tide that would soon wash the work away provided an energizing challenge. But I knew then I would do work that would engage natural elements and, like Goldsworthy, would work to illustrate the, at times, humorous juxtaposition between man and nature.

My time in South Africa had the most significant effect on me and would influence my future artistic direction. The ocean, sea life, and seashells I found there on Camps Bay Beach inspired a piece I created using mixed acrylic paints in colors that precisely reflected the hues inside a shell I found on the sand.

Other places I've lived and worked include Lisbon, Portugal, where I learned about the history of graffiti art and practiced the art form.

In Valencia, Spain, I further explored urban street graffiti, working with a local artist named David de Limòn. With him, I experienced creating a large-scale rendering that featured emojis and computer icons, using spray cans and graffiti techniques on an ancient wall that was centuries old. Though de Limòn spoke very little English and I spoke only Spanish, we used the same artistic language while creating the piece.

Alongside my fascination with the beauty and enduring qualities of the natural world, I developed a keen interest in gleaning things that endure beyond their years of use, saving them from landfills. Examples are familiar objects like plastic caps in myriad shapes, sizes, and textures. After years of collecting and picking them up wherever I find them, I created a color wheel using more than 1,000 caps. I also made a mural with caps in shades of red, purple, gold, black, and white, mounting them to a 20" by 30" wall with just a few drops of glue from a gun.

My goal with every piece of art I make is to create a sensory experience and expand the viewer's awareness of how precious the world's natural resources are and how they're all connected to human beings.

As a tactile person, my current pursuit of handling and making encaustic and collagraph printmaking engages each of my senses. Encaustic collagraph is a technique I learned in Mexico directly from Hugo Anaya and an Encaustic retreat in Portland from Elise Wegner, who both had their methods.

From conception to choosing colors and designing, bringing a piece of print to completion is a thrill. Working with natural materials, inks, and watercolors is essential to enhancing the beauty of my printmaking pieces.

About ME

Scott DS Young is a visionary artist making waves in the greater San Francisco Bay area. With a background as an accomplished Illustrator, Scott's creative journey has now taken a captivating turn as he delves into visual art, specializing in the mesmerizing medium of encaustic collagraph printmaking. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, Scott's artistic prowess shines through in every stroke of wax and ink. Embracing the tactile nature and reusable treasures in this encaustic collagraph, he deftly transforms traditional printmaking into unique pieces of work. As an avid freelancer, Scott's work resonates with depth and emotion, drawing viewers into a world where imagination and reality intertwine. With each new creation, Scott DS Young redefines the boundaries of visual art, leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary art scene.