Queer Form Unfollows Function

In this presentation, artist Jade Yumang will explore the frameworks of queer form as a method of cultural inquiry and aesthetic expression. This exploration will encompass several projects that investigate how bodies are oriented and perceived both optically and spatially. The discussion is grounded in fibre craft techniques and their histories, emphasizing how these techniques often require tension and force. And how once that tension is released, they result in a soft, pliable material—much like the body, which undergoes strain and yearns for relief.

Jade Yumang was born in Quezon City, Philippines, grew up in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, immigrated to unceded Coast Salish territories in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and has been living in the traditional unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires in Chicago, IL. They have exhibited their work in several museums and galleries nationally and internationally. Jade has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the BC Arts Council. He has been an artist in residence at the Fire Island Artist Residency, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space Residency, and Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. They earned an MFA with Departmental Honors from Parsons School of Design in 2012 and a BFA with Honours from the University of British Columbia in 2008. Jade is an associate professor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo credit: Luiza Folegatti.