Over the last 30 years, Michael Young has developed a diverse and kaleidoscopic body of abstract geometric paintings, drawings and installations. Central to his work is an emphasis on facture, an attunement to the methodologies of making or constructing his paintings. His painting procedures are adapted from different sources such as geology, scientific documentation and architectural production, and result from the use of specific materials to construct the surfaces. For example, past installations and paintings have been distinguished by the use of sand collected from deserts, reflecting the mineral color of the geology of their place.    

Young’s recent body of work, Updrafts, uses graphite, CNC fabricated drawing templates and multiple layers of transparent acrylic medium. His individual formal language is drawn from a lexicon of interrelated subjects such as Mimbres pottery, tantric art, geology, seismographs, modernist and colonial architecture, stereotomy, desert landscapes, petroglyphs, Japanese pottery, Native American design languages, textiles, microphotography, bee hives and the study of pollen.