83.82 x 62.23 x 6.35 cm
In semiotic theory, the sign has a meaning other than itself, which communicates information once decoded. For Young, this symbol is an opportunity to challenge our understanding of form and meaning. The series Diagrams with my Father is created through the appropriation of theological diagrams from the elder Young’s teachings, combined with symbols that carry a particular weight in the artist’s visual lexicon. God, dog, a diptych, provides a further glimpse into the binary system Young complicates. Consistent shifts occur as the eye scans the surface of the drawings, traversing the distance between truth, religion, language, and mark-making. Slowly, the words form, void, dog, god, WORD, and word, begin to assemble on the paper, slightly obfuscated by a coat of loose graphite that has been rubbed into the grain. The combination of authoritative marks of the scholar and artist conflates the absoluteness of religious word and language itself, resulting in a system of floating signifiers that weaves a thread through Young’s broader practice. The resultant body of work suggests a conversation between the two, and the opportunity for new forms to emerge.
