I’m a Monster, I’m a Flower, I’m Everything at Once
For several months, I had the joy of being a visiting teaching artist with YAI Arts, a studio that supports the creative practices of artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Focusing on the theme of monsters, I guided YAI artists in bringing their inner monsters to life through masks and costumes. Moving from drawings to wearable beings, each of the artists developed rich narratives and worlds around their monsters that were brought to life through portraits taken throughout New York City. These portraits, along with the monsters and accompanying sets and props, were showcased in a multi-media installation at the Museum of Modern Art.
Each week, coming to the studio was a total joy as I witnessed the birth and growth of these extraordinary monsters and got to know the incredible YAI artists more deeply! While monsters are often perceived as otherworldly, they can also be deeply personal, with rich personalities and narratives, courageously and authentically drawn from the artists' vivid interior worlds. Monsters can be extensions of ourselves, revealing parts that are usually hidden.
The show celebrated the monsters within and around us—under our beds and in our closets—waiting to play, be given space, and be understood. As part of the final installation, we created a monstrous bedroom set and fantasy wardrobe, bridging the fantastical and the personal. Thank you to Priscilla, Mallory, Theresa, and all the YAI artists for their boundless support and enthusiasm, and for entrusting me to bring this project and installation to life!
2022 at the Museum of Modern Art
Installation Images by onwhitewall.com
More information about the show from the official press release:
“For 65 years, YAI has supported people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in achieving the fullest life possible by creating opportunities for living, loving, working, and learning. The YAI Arts program offers full-time studio access to a passionate group of adult visual artists. Through drawing, painting, costuming, sculpture, puppetry, and more, the artists externalize their interior worlds and communicate lived perspectives that are often silenced or ignored. Unique fantasies are woven into a communal language that unites the artists’ vibrant imaginations and shares their brilliance with the outside world.
This spring, Access Programs at MoMA and YAI Arts collaborated in a partnership with teaching artist Lexy Ho-Tai. Monsters and flowers, mirrors and beasts, creatures and creations—these are some of the themes YAI Artists explored throughout their program sessions. The artists engaged with new ideas and approaches to art making during visits to MoMA, focusing on topics including identity, the grotesque, Surrealism, and disguise. They incorporated these influences into their studio practice through weekly workshops with Ho-Tai, joining in her multidisciplinary practice and embarking on a creative journey that shape-shifted along with the works they brought to life.
The YAI artists’ monstrous creations tackle inner demons, conjure alternative worlds, laugh at fear, and foster an environment where difference is exalted as beauty.”
