Up in Smoke

Mamie Young is a Los Angeles-based painter whose intimate yet surreal compositions probe emotional weight, distortion, and identity through the unlikely language of inflatable forms. In her current practice, inflatables become more than curious objects; they stand in for the fragile architectures we build around feeling and self-perception. By pairing the everyday and the uncanny, Young opens quiet spaces for reflection on how we carry and conceal our narratives.

Born in Guangzhou, China, and trained in Architecture and Film Production at the University of Southern California, Young spent her early career as a graphic artist for studios such as Disney, HBO, and Netflix.

“I’m interested in how material culture shapes our lives; the things we build around ourselves, both physically and emotionally. Inflatables, with their strange mix of the familiar and artificiality, feel like symbols of our time. They hold so much potential for expression and often stand in for the ways we try to construct, protect, or even poke fun at the fragile structures that make up who we are. Through them, I’m exploring the quiet absurdities of being, the space between humor and vulnerability, or permanence and fragility.” - Mamie Young