A brief interlude from your regular rigamarole of my angst-ridden observations!
One of the benefits to being an artist is that your life overfloweth with other artists who lead astonishing lives, create beautiful things, and make you proud to be a part of humanity (Yes, even in this economy). Culturally, the term “successful artist” may bring to mind people getting cast in Broadway productions, or twenty-somethings opening at a fancy gallery in New York. But I have met so many artists who lead rich, full, beautiful, and successfully artistic lives and I wanted to talk to some of them about their lives, art, and how they do it. Here, we’ll explore the simplicity and sometimes mundanity that accompanies art making, why we do it, and how we balance it in a culture that values money, traditional milestones, and linear trajectories.
Andalyn Young
Andalyn Young grew up in the American Rust Belt. If you’re about to google it (which I did), I’ll save you the new tab— the Rust Belt refers to the region known predominantly for producing steel in the U.S.: West of New England and the North Eastern portion of the midwest. “I didn’t know I was going to be an artist. I didn’t know this way of living was possible. I only felt that I was, in some obvious ways, an outsider. Art was especially foreign to my family, most of whom worked in manufacturing plants, warehouses, or the old steel mill. We did not have books in the house. We did not have paintings. There was no appetite for aesthetics or imagination or the life of the mind.”
I met Andalyn, a beautiful mover with an excellent sense of humor, while I was living in Philadelphia. We attended the same graduate program, though at different times, so we never shared the joys and agonies of going through the coursework together. What we do share is a wandering from the medium of theater. “I haven’t performed much in recent years, though I still collaborate on performances in other capacities. And much of my work in writing and audio has felt like an extension of performance.”
Andalyn described her current mediums as language, sound, collage, and movement— though her main focus lately is writing. She just published an essay, Still Life With Strawberries, in Seneca Review’s Spring 2024 issue that you can purchase here.
While writing has taken center stage of Andalyn’s artistic expression, she noted that it hasn’t been a seamless transition, “When I first pivoted toward writing, I suffered a wave of imposter syndrome… But once I actually began writing, I realized how much of my experience as a performance-maker directly feeds into this work. It’s the same DNA. Rhythm, tension, dissonance, contrast, juxtaposition, repetition, arc… I like to think of writing as a kind of choreography. But rather than working with bodies in space, I’m choreographing language in space.” You can feel this sense of movement in Andalyn’s non-performance work, both her writing and her audio pieces have a distinctive sense of movement and rhythm.
In the almost ten years that I’ve known Andalyn, she’s lived in Philadelphia, Finland, and Alaska— places with very specific and very different geography and culture. I was curious to know how place affected her making process. “Place and environment have an enormous impact on my writing. If writing is a practice of paying attention, an ethics of seeing, then I don’t know how it’s possible to write without being in relation to place.” She’s currently in Philadelphia working on an essay which she said wouldn’t be possible to write elsewhere.
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Inspiration and influence are always artistic sparks I’m curious about when it comes to why we make things. In response to what drives her to create, Andalyn said, “The initial starting point is usually some question or subject that I feel compelled to explore because I don’t understand it, don’t know how I feel about it, or simply experience a mysterious attraction that is hard to ignore.”
The lack of value placed on the arts can be a huge obstacle for pursuing art in the United States— something Andalyn acknowledged in her thoughts about the impulses she decides to pursue, “Attraction and pleasure need to be part of my work for it to be sustainable. If I’m going to devote countless hours to a creative project, especially while living in an economic system that doesn’t value artistic work and most likely won’t compensate me, then I’m going to invite as much pleasure as possible into the process.” She noted that doesn’t mean making art is always easy— sometimes pleasure and joy come from hard work.
Making art in a capitalist economy that values product over process can be arduous. I asked Andalyn where she finds support as an artist— be it fiscal, emotional, mental, or any other kind. Her response, “Spacious time to read, write, and stretch on the floor is the best support for my artistic practice and my happiness. But spacious time doesn’t come easily. I have forfeited many aspects of a ‘comfortable’ life in order to provide myself with adequate time for creative work.”
Andalyn’s art and friendship have inspired and fueled me on more than one occasion. I hope you’ll look into what she’s making. You can find her self-described laughably inactive instagram account: @andalyn_foreveryoung, her website: www.andalynyoung.info and her sound cloud.
Other Updates:
I’ve got something new at the Belladonna! Were you a Gifted and Talented kid? Are you now riddled with anxiety and depression? This one is for you and everyone else who is… well… riddled with anxiety and depression!
My birthday is on Saturday! To celebrate all my accomplishments in life (birth! survival! cat motherdom!) feel free to shower me in affection and/or bandanas. And/or, make a plan to vote even though it is 1) three months away and 2) the least fun it has ever been.
If you liked the above diversion from my usual content, I’d love to hear it! Respond to this email or leave a comment. I’m considering making this a regular series, or even a separate newsletter entirely. Talking to artists is an absolute delight and I’d love a reason to do it more.