About myself, Eileen Young

I have been painting since 1978, when I began my studies in art.

I graduated from Concordia University in 1988 with a B.F.A. in studio art.

I paint in oil, favouring bright and vibrant colours, on canvas or paper, usually in a large format. My interest has always been in looking at the socio-political concerns of contemporary times. In my early paintings,

my focus was on gender issues, and the alienation, dehumanization and environmental damage brought about as an unintended consequence

of technological progress. I chose the machine as a metaphor for this condition. Just as technological progress is often presented in a seductive manner, so the machines in my paintings appear seductive

and appealing with their bright colours and soft shapes. Most of these paintings depict robotic figures trapped on the midst of hard-edged machinery.

Assessing the extent of damage to the quality of human life can be difficult. The true horror of current events is often masked by ambiguous bureaucratic terms, such as “collateral damage,” a term originally coined to refer to civilian injuries and deaths in the Gulf War. My paintings attempt to present this ambiguity, which confronts people every day

in contemporary life.

In the mid 1990s I began to create a textured surface with more organic forms. I also began looking at the structure of trees, specifically their complicated and beautiful root systems. These paintings often resemble surreal landscapes, and, in general, they focus on environmental themes. A visit to British Columbia in 1996, where I observed the devastation caused by clear-cutting, led to this preoccupation with trees.

Many of my paintings use a collage of many images,

some from newspapers, others from personal photographs.

I have exhibited frequently in Montreal and the West island of Montreal.