Who is Paul Yore?
I’m a 34-year-old artist originally from Naarm, now living and working on unceded Gunaikurnai country. My work interrogates the material and informational excess of Late Capitalist society from a queer and anarchistic perspective. I construct large-scale immersive sculptural installation works incorporating a vast array of collected found materials, alongside video, lights, sound, and textile work.
What would you do differently from what you do now?
If I had my time again, I would maybe have liked to have been a botanist or horticulturalist. Nature is an endlessly intriguing mystery.
Who inspires you and why?
I draw inspiration from anyone who lives their authentic truth fully and unabashedly, no matter how weird or unpopular, even in the face of ridicule or derision.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
I think small gestures of care and empathy are the most important forms of solidarity today.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
My favourite holiday destination is staying home…
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
Living regionally, there are so many incredible places to visit. Maybe a nice waterfall to stare into…
What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading The Stonewall Reader – an anthology of texts by pioneering American LGBTIQA+ activists in the 1960’s around the time of the uprising that spawned the modern LGBTIQA+ rights movement in America.
What are you currently listening to?
When I’m working in the studio, I like upbeat music, and I usually listen to old-school house, or any trashy techno or electro.
Happiness is?
As Anne Frank once stated: “think of all the beauty still around you and be happy.”
What does the future hold for you?
Right now, I am busy working towards a survey exhibition at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, which opens on 23 September. It will bring together over 100 textile works spanning 15 years of production, alongside works on paper, sculptural pieces and a major newly commissioned immersive installation work. Beyond that, I like gardening, and my aim is to eventually grow enough fruit and vegetables to live off.
Paul’s latest work Seeing is Believing but Feeling is the Truth is a sacred funhouse, a garish nexus of capitalist exchange, fluoro signs and found objects – will be presented as part of the Golden Square program at the 2022 Rising Festival: 1 – 12 June. For more information, visit: www.rising.melbourne for details.
Image: Paul Yore (supplied)