Ochen Kaylan (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist whose creative practice spans sculpture, filmmaking, music, and audio performance. Based in Portland, OR, Kaylan’s visual work bridges the gap between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary abstraction. Their educational background includes studies at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, and Pacific Northwest College of Art and Design.

Kaylan’s sculptures work with the materials of the city: glass, steel, and concrete. The pieces behave like fragments of architecture, suggesting corridors, thresholds, and rooms that remain uninhabited. Seen in motion, lines meet and miss, planes shift, and reflections undo what seemed certain. Polished surfaces sit beside deliberately raw or broken ones, a pairing that points to the distance between how we appear and what we carry. This is personal as well as formal. As an autistic artist, Kaylan uses the work to give shape to experiences that are hard to name and easy to overlook.

In addition to their sculptural practice, Kaylan has an extensive background in digital design and media production. As an arts worker, they have served as the Manager of Digital Design for the Walker Art Center and a Producer at Minnesota Public Radio. These experiences have enriched their artistic practice, allowing them to approach their work with a multidisciplinary perspective that combines visual, digital, and interactive elements.

Kaylan has received numerous recognitions for their work, including fellowships from the McKnight Foundation and the Jerome Foundation. Their work is also part of the permanent collection at the Walker Art Center. Currently, they lead the Glass and Ceramics Guilds at Past Lives in Portland, where they also teach in both mediums, with special interest in fostering creativity and collaboration within and between the queer and disabled communities. Kaylan's commitment to inclusivity and community engagement is central to their work, reflecting their belief in the power of art to reveal who we are, to ourselves and to each other.