Anna Young: Life's a F*cking Joke
Category: Event Calendar
Date and Time
- Wed, May 21, 2025 - Sat, Jun 14, 2025
Location
Akron Soul Train
191 S Main St
Details
Anna Young debuts Life is a F*cking Joke, a series of bright experimental self-portraits using a hybrid of photography, print, illustration, and collage. The divergence from her traditional photography background mimics Young’s personal narrative, a necessary departure from the rigid traditions of her family’s church after embracing her queer identity. Over the past eight years, Anna Young has created caricatures of herself, using self-portrait photographs and life-cast sculptures to tell a personal story of trauma.
Young’s continual artistic reinvention implements humor and caricature to cope with anxiety, stereotypes, addiction, familial and societal trauma, body dysmorphia, shame, mortality, and personal mistakes through a hyperbolic lens. In Life is a F*cking Joke, party favors and facial expressions align with artwork titles like “I Don’t Feel Blessed,” creating a dichotomy of emotions, asking viewers to hold the fantastical fanfare with the deep, dark blue notes. Multilayered in metaphor and the human experience, the pieces are also physically layered with materials. Anna Young’s innovative methods include mounting photos onto wood panels, printing on transparent inkjet paper, layering with illuminated panels, adding hand-drawn illustrations, and incorporating text and collaged elements. Through this exhibition, she seeks to push creative boundaries and foster connections between art, humor, and healing.
“I want to break the stereotype of what photography can be… I am excited to continue exploring materiality in relation to my life experiences and creating images that add to my personal, humorous narrative. With this exhibition, I hope to inspire others to practice art to cope with personal trauma.” — Anna Young
About the Artist Anna Young:
Anna E. Young is an artist and arts advocate. She holds an M.F.A. in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a B.F.A. from the University of Akron, with minors in Printmaking, Art History, and Professional Photography. Young is an assistant lecturer at the University of Akron Myers School of Art in the 2D Design and Photography department. She is the co-founder of KINK Contemporary, an arts organization whose mission is to support emerging artists and curators. Artistically, she creates fine art photographs, prints, and silicone sculptures revolving around contemporary social issues, body dysmorphia, trauma, and mortality.
Akron Soul Train is open Wednesday - Saturday, 11 am - 4 pm.
