Washington Winter Show 2024

30 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2024 WASHINGTON WINTER SHOW JOSH YOUNG J osh Young is an artist and designer based in Washington, D.C. A graduate of Italy’s renowned Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Josh’s six years spent in Milan heavily influenced and crafted his overall artistic style. After returning to the U.S., Josh began working as a designer in the textile industry, in New York City’s Flatiron District. Inspired by the fusion of Old World elements married with bold, modern-day techniques, he founded his studio Josh Yöung Design House in 2017. Please tell us about yourself and your work to date. I’m a fine artist and designer based inWashington, D.C. My work is heavily influenced by historic references with a focus on texture and layering. I’ve been an artist all my life, but I really formed my artistic and creative point of view during my six years living and studying in Milan, Italy. I founded my studio Josh Yöung Design House in 2017 and I’ve been fortunate to have worked for and been commissioned by some of the leading designers in the industry. This year marks a turning point in my career with the launch of several product collaborations, new collections, and the release of my first book with Rizzoli this fall. How would you describe your design aesthetic? I would describe my design aesthetic as the marriage of OldWorld elements with a modern, restrained point of view. You have said that “everything in a home should tell a story.” What is the story that the Josh Yöung Design House on Capitol Hill tells? Our townhouse is filled with pieces that my husband Ignacio and I have collected over the years. I’ve always curated my living spaces with objects that have meaning and intention. These pieces tell a story not only of their own origin, but to who I am as an artist and designer. As a child, I grew up behind an auction house in Pennsylvania and quickly learned the art of collecting. That love of sourcing and collecting pieces with meaning is still with me today. How does the cover you designed for the 2024WWS Catalogue capture your artistic aesthetic? A lot of my work is mixed media and features my paintings and drawings on top of old, antique documents. The archives in my studio are filled with these documents that I’ve sourced over the years. They mainly feature 17th–early 20th century French, Italian, English and early American documents, engravings, and book pages. When creating the cover, I looked to reference both my BLOOM and Bibliothèque collections. I wanted the cover to have a sense of depth, so I layered 19th century cutouts and papers from my archives on top of a botanical painting of mine.