WORD PLAY
FEB 7-27
MAY YANG

Opening Second Friday, Feb 7, 5-8pm
Continuing through Feb 27, 2025.
Gallery hours after opening: Thursdays 5-8pm, Saturdays 1-5pm
Liggett Studio is a located at 314 S Kenosha, Tulsa, OK 74120
Artist Statement
I investigate language and communication utilizing a vocabulary drawn from typography and
handwriting. This work takes the form of colorful abstract paintings.
Growing up as a first-generation Asian American in Oklahoma, I encountered cultural contrasts
and communication barriers within my own family, further amplified by language differences.
My frustrations fueled my artistic journey, and art became my method for processing and
reconciling these intercultural challenges.
My artistic process is influenced by my background in printmaking. I begin with digital
sketches, trace the finished compositions onto panel, then complete the final painting. Words
exist at the heart of each work I create. These source words are digitally cut, resized, and
obscured into new compositions, resulting in paintings that are vibrantly colored, active in
composition, and reminiscent of a hidden language. The physical act of painting serves as a
cathartic and compulsive ritual. The act of continually redrawing the composition (digitally, in
tracing, and finally in paint) is integral to the process, mirroring the degradation of
communication over time.
I view my artwork as a springboard for shared conversation, helping bridge gaps of isolation by
reaching people on an intuitive level.
Artist Bio
May Yang is a Tulsa based artist, printer, designer, and business owner. She uses typographic and calligraphic elements as the building blocks to creating colorful, abstract paintings.
May graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2008. While there, she interned for Dolphin Press & Print, the school's print workshop, where she assisted in printing editions for Jon Rappleye, Jane Kent and Faith Ringgold. Continuing her interest in collaborative printmaking, May attended the Tamarind Institute of Lithography in Albuquerque, New Mexico and earned her Professional Printer’s Certificate. May has participated in a number of juried and invitational group shows including IPCNY New Prints, OVAC’s 24 Works on Paper, and Momentum Tulsa Spotlight.
Following a long hiatus from creating personal work, May fell in love with painting murals and found it to be a gateway to developing a creative practice again.
Outside of her art, May owns Flash Flood Print Studios, Tulsa’s artist-led, community driven print shop.
May Yang – mayyang.com
"made possible with support from the Artist Creative Fund
