Blended Traditions

Artists: MAY KYTONEN

Join us on Thursday, February 14 at 6pm for West Seattle Art Walk (special this month: Passport to Love, with prizes and more)! Enjoy light refreshments, meet the artist, and see this remarkable exhibit up close. Free and open to the public.

BIO

May Kytonen is a visual artist based in Seattle, Washington, creating work sourced from her mixed Taiwanese heritage. She earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts from the University of Washington in 2012, and has exhibited her work throughout the Pacific Northwest. She has won several awards, including a smART Ventures Mini Grant through the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and an Artist Trust GAP Award in 2017. May’s work is an exploration of Asian-American identity and connection.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I transform paper into sculptural forms sourced from my life and culture. My process began with a longing for connection, wondering where I belonged between cultures as a biracial, Taiwanese-American. Wanting to bridge that gap, I became curious how Chinese and English, the languages of my family, might interact in a joined, physical form. As I took newspaper, spun yarn and began knitting, new questions and curiosities arose for me. What did it mean for paper to break, disintegrate, or be left undone? How was something as fragile as paper able to transcend its original form? What visible and invisible forces caused connection within the work?

As I continue to create this work, my thoughts about identity have shifted. My work begins a map of how one can stretch out and let the folds of self breathe easy, even in the midst of dissonance.

Website: maykytonen.com