“The eye loves symbols. I make playgrounds for the eyes.” – Yenna Hill
I can’t imagine a more perfect symbol than the eye for artist Yenna Hill, whose oeuvre is broad in scope and singularly recognizable in style. Working primarily with paint, markers and digital drawing, Hill is astonishingly prolific. Emailing from her row-home based studio, surrounded by painted vinyl records in various stages of completion, I gathered details about this self-taught artist.
BK: You come from artistic lineage, with Keith Haring, your uncle, and Kay Haring the writer, your mom.
YH: Keith and I have similar origin stories, growing up drawing at the kitchen table with our grandpa, Al. Grandpa taught me to draw with my eyes closed, to collaborate, space lines and trick the eye. Keith is an abundant presence in our lives even after his passing. He was a wonderful uncle, and while I have childhood memories of him, I feel I know him better in death than in life. He left his story well told and accessible. Art is for everyone. My mom led me to much of what has inspired me. I was a writer before I was an artist, and my writing always blew her away. Even when I was unsure, she advocated for me, consistently telling me I could do anything.
BK: And school?
YH: Art class frustrated me, so I quit and took drama. Having been diagnosed with ADHD as a teen, school was traumatizing. I dropped out of college, declaring myself an artist. The best advice anyone ever gave me was to draw every day. Motherhood made my focus sharper. I found my signature “YEN” when my daughter was born. I began to figure out my work, making symbols people would know were mine.
BK: I see nimbleness in your work, encompassing varied surfaces.
YH: I was inspired by my uncle and his friend, Kenny Scharf, would also make art out of “trash.” That’s how I started painting vinyl records.
BK: Pattern is important to your aesthetic.
YH: I found myself in line-work and pattern, creating my own visual handwriting. Through travel, I picked up angles to my line that differentiated it. The more I work in lines, the more I’m in conversation with the universe.
BK: There’s utility to your art, which is unusual for a painter, in that your work is expressed in decorative and functional ways.
YH: It’s about filling space. I begin with boundless freedom narrowing my chosen disciplines as they are revealed.
BK: You also do henna designs.
YH: A few summers ago, a friend in Maui invited me to hang work in her henna shop and learn the craft. It was wonderful. Connectivity is sparked when you literally touch people with art.
BK: Describe your identity as an artist.
YH: Kenny Scharf painted my car once, and although I should replace it, I have identity issues whenever I think about driving something that’s not playfully decorated.
Hill takes commissions, sells on Big Cartel, and is participating in the Penn Avenue holiday makers market this season.
Beth Krumholz is a Berks County native, currently residing in Bethlehem. She is an educator, artist, and poet. She has worked in the field of alternative art education for more than 20 years, from NYC to San Francisco. In her spare time, she enjoys Indian cooking, Appalachian waterfalls, table-top herb gardening, and hanging out with her wonderful son and their mischievous cats. Photo: Jenny Schulder-Brant
