Dylan Languell

Region: South

City / State: Chicago, IL

In my practice, I explore accessible materials, primarily from the domestic context, by reimagining the ways in which they are commonly used as consumer products: I use house paint mostly through it's disposal. As a result, I began to consider our larger relationship to material consumption and the incontinent exchange we forge in this relationship. I am driven by the potential of this material to transform into an art object.

My process is non-methodological; it relies equally on intuition and experimentation. Recycled paint is broken down by thermal manipulation—either heat or frost—and molded into new forms. Because it is important that my engagement with material is freed from informed formulas, my process continually shifts based on the emerging results. Paint is treated as a tailored material, a foundation for both architecture and textile. I am interested in creating a visual language with mistinted house paint that problematizes and strengthens the viewer’s perceptions and associations with these materials.