Meet Edith Young
What came first, your love of Art & Art history or interest in colour?
Art and art history: as a kid, I had an active imagination, and gravitated towards paintings that seemed like portals to secret, sinister worlds. I was transfixed by the visual tricks, like the log that looks like a skull in The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger or the convex mirror in Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait that reflects the scene back to the viewer in miniature.
Vintage Sylvia Drawstring
Where are your favourite places in NYC to visit for inspiration?
As long as I step foot outside of my apartment, a long wander through any neighbourhood gets my gears turning. For a jolt of visual stimuli, I rifle through the book jackets of out-of-print books at Argosy in midtown.
What is your favourite colour to wear?
Red. Last year, one of my only New Year’s resolutions was to “wear more red.” The other week, my brother ordered a sour beer that had been brewed with packets of Kool Aid, and it was the exact shade of red I want to wear from head to toe.
Candy Lolita Pinafore Dress | Candy Daffodil Isabel High Neck Top
What is your first memory of colour….
My dad used to read this Dr. Seuss book called My Many Coloured Days to my brother and me, and the title has been reverberating in my head throughout my own book process. It explored correlations between colours and moods, and skewed a little abstract. I was afraid of it because my dad would more or less perform it in different voices to embody the various colours.
What part of the book ‘Colour Scheme’ was most fun to write?
One of four essays in the book, “The Typologists” may have been the most enjoyable, though I find revising a lot more fun than writing! This essay draws a throughline between a dozen or so artists who employ typology as an organising principle in their work, whether their subject matter is figure skating or cleaning supplies or truck drivers’ elbows.
Candy Lolita Pinafore Dress | Candy Daffodil Isabel High Neck Top
How do you unwind when not making and creating…
I’ve been drawing from observation in my downtime. I like portraits if I can get someone to sit still long enough, but more often I’m sketching immobile planters of lettuce.
Vera Blouse
And do you have a recipe you love?
The Americano cocktail, which is a recent party trick I learned from my mom. Pour 1 ½ ounces of Campari and the same amount (if not a little more heavy-handed) with the sweet vermouth, and then fill the rest of the glass with club soda and ice. Garnish with an orange slice and presto!
Follow Edith on instagram: @edithwyoung
www.edith.nyc
