Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Tange.
Hi Kayla, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have been creating since I was a kid. I loved to write stories, poetry, and dance. I moved to Los Angeles in 2000, and between working several jobs to make ends meet, I didn’t have much time or space to create objects, so I found a lot of joy in stripping and performing arts, where I could pay my bills and express myself. It wasn’t until 2015 that I was part of my first group art show, and since then, I have expanded my love for performance into video, installation, and sculptural works.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all for me. I dropped out of college several times and didn’t ever see an end to the long days I was working. I hit many highs and lows with my art practice as well. I finally graduated last year with my bachelor of arts and a minor in gender studies from UCLA.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Through video, installation, sculpture, and, more directly with performance, a large portion of my work addresses structures of spectatorship while redefining ancestral trauma through public and private rituals. My practice pendulates between literal and satirical while exploring ways of utilizing collaboration to convey feelings of longing and belonging, transforming stories of shame into a symbolic and valuable medium where psychic boundaries, desire, and permanence are recurring themes. I am part of diaspora collectives Han Diaspora Group, Hwa Records, and Chosun Family, as well as sex worker-run shows Sacred Wounds, Cyber Clown Girls, and Stripper Co-op, which focus on fundraising, mutual aid, and community building through performance. I am also known under the stage name Coco Ono. I express emotional and societal confines – often in dark humor to facilitate meaningful dialogue around death, mutation, and compensation for emotional and physical labor.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I have had many mentors over the years, and a few who have shaped me are Jerri Allyn and Sheree Rose. They have not only been incredibly supportive of my practice, but they being both artists and performers, have really paved the path for artists like myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kaylatange.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayla.tange/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086121982755
Image Credits
Screenshot from Dear Mother film produced by Luka Fisher and Kayla Tange, directed by Matthew Kaundart, DP Kyle Krupinski. Install shot of Dear Mother film and sculpture A Chance to be Seen at the AHL foundation gallery artist fellowship show taken by Jiyoung Lee.
