ARTIST STATEMENT
My current body of work is a loose response to the earliest drawings of my twin daughters, which have inspired and moved me by their simplicity, humor and emotional honesty. In their drawings, I have found a universe of timeless emotions, symbols and narratives, all vying to make sense of the world they inhabit. For my daughters, drawing was a form of play, a means of expression and a form of discovery These childhood monsters and creatures have become the vessels and metaphors from which I explore contemporary life. Through a body of reductive figuration, I create open-ended artwork which explores relationships, blurring boundaries between male and female, human and creature, present and past, all reflecting the humanity of our times. This body of work began as ceramic sculptures and has evolved into collages, woodcuts, lithographs, and ceramic wall drawings, figurative shaped clay wall forms that are incised and colored with stain. Made for inclusive audiences of all ages, my practice, much like my young daughters’, has become a way to make sense of the world, a space for transformation and a path to discovery in which I engage my viewers.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
A 2024 Minnesota State Arts Board grantee, Judith Yourman is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including awards from the NEA, McKnight and Jerome Foundations. Her work appears in permanent and private collections, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art. She has taught in the art departments of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Carleton College and St. Olaf College, and has created arts programming for public schools in and around the Twin Cities. Yourman received her BFA from Pratt Institute and an MFA from the University of MN. She currently resides in Plymouth, MN.
© Judith Yourman