Trae Story

BIOGRAPHY

Trae Story (b. 1995) is from St. Paul, Minnesota. He received his BFA from St. Cloud State University in 2018. From 2018-2019, Trae attended Montana State University as a special student, and attended Colorado State University as a post-baccalaureate from 2019-2020.   

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am interested in making art without prescriptive expectations.  My artwork serves as a corollary to censorship, by seeking to change the way people understand an issue or situation for the purpose of changing their actions and expectations.  This happens by filling the viewer’s mind with slow-digesting abstract stimuli that prevents them from being confronted with tense topics or opposing points of view.  In a society of mass information, humans tend to engage in economically prudent thought.  This is counterproductive in the context of my artwork, because viewers tend to avoid addressing topics that may make them uncomfortable or anxious.  I try to circumvent this problem by avoiding confrontation; this happens through the multidimensional transmutation of cartoons, folktales, pop culture, the Jim Crow Era, and my upbringing as a mixed-race individual.   

Instagram: @traestory
Website: traestory.com