Jayoung Yoon

My work draws upon the mind-matter phenomenon, exploring our memory, perception and bodily sensations. The primary medium in my work is human hair, a material that is intimately corporeal, tactile, and focuses the viewer’s attention on the body. Hair is also an especially appropriate symbol of remembrance, since it doesn’t decay until long after death.

Each strand of my own hair is hand knotted or woven into forms to create intricate sculptures. The woven hair resembles fine nets or webs, allowing the viewer to see through the strands, giving the work a delicate transparency. Some of the forms represent ineffable thoughts, and memories, as seen in my video and performance. Also, I weave strands of hair into weightless sculptures and installations that move as the result of airflow in the room and respond to the viewer’s movement. These small movements in space, on an intricate scale, shift the viewer’s awareness of their surroundings and introduce subtle perceptions that are often taken for granted.

For my printmaking, I am experimenting with etching, collagraph and monoprint techniques to explore body, sense, memory and perception. For example, in the ‘Sensory Memory’ series,’ I use a monoprint technique to imprint butterfly weed seeds and combine it with etching. I enjoy the subtle details of the fluffy seed fibers, and was drawn to the way they mirror bodily forms like neurons and nerve endings. Combining them with internal bodily imagery evokes physical sensations.

 

Jayoung Yoon is a New York based artist born in South Korea. Her work has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries, including The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY; San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose, CA; New Bedford Art Museum, New Bedford, MA; Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH; Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE; Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY; Marc Straus gallery, NYC; Here Arts Center, NYC; Coreana Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, and Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea. She was awarded the AHL Foundation Artist Fellowship, the Ora Schneider Regional Residency Grant, the BRIC Media Arts fellowship, and the Franklin Furnace Fund.

Yoon has attended residencies at MacDowell, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Millay Colony for the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Swing space, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Sculpture Space, Vermont Studio Center, I-Park, and Saltonstall Foundation, among others. Her work has appeared in various publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Hyperallergic, Artnet News, Surface Design Journal, and Fiber Art Now. She received her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and her BFA from Hongik University in Seoul, Korea.