HyunMo Yang (b. 1987)
Hyun Mo Yang delves in moments when images either blur or sharpen through processes of visual perception. For Yang, his series of paintings and the act of drawing encapsulate his attempt toward introspective reference and observation to achieve a certain “balance”. Moving beyond his previous focus on darkness, Yang now focuses on symmetry and purposely blurs such structures to better understand his artistic process and ultimately, life.
Artist Statement
I first drew symmetry out of anxiety. When I see symmetry, I visualize a painting and its language of color, blurred shapes, and sharp contours. For me, symmetry embodies a dense, visual experience. And at some point, I began to blur such arrangements. I am uncertain whether I blurred to either comfort my anxiety or to further my angst. This process reminded me of a flickering candle, and the blurring of symmetry eventually revealed a certain life-force lurking beneath the fragility to maintain formative balance. Perhaps I wanted to understand what it means to be blurred, to be shaken by inserting myself into such precarity.
What Constitutes Flickering? Flickering denotes uncertainty in movement, situations, or mentality. Is it possible to reinterpret such negative connotations of the word through painting? I began drawing candles to figure out the reasons for the light’s seemingly diametric qualities of both uncertainty and solidity.
We sense fragility in the candle, but we also feel a certain density due to our perception of its three-dimensional quality rather than as a fragmentary, fixed object. Does the medial reading of an object stem from its flickering? Could this quivering shape be a new opportunity for a grander gaze? I believe that this three-dimensionality and expansive scope ultimately solidifies the candle. The candle flickers. I quiver along with the light. The paintings also flicker—at times calmy and at times violently. It feels like a dance. As such, the candle images are all different. The candle reveals itself as symmetry of lines and planes, but also divulges itself amidst the intertwined heap. This broadened spectrum of images all indicate a certain flicker. Can this swaying and dance ignite the embers within? Recently, I have started to combine the various paintings to create a single work. Beginning with a simple idea of shaking the paintings, this new arrangement displays multiple screens and as such renders multifaceted viewpoints. One large screen shakes to become many—providing structure to a multitude. This development ultimately visualizes said three-dimensionality of the candle and its flickering. This flickering of the candle and painting are moments that capture three-dimensionality. As such, I hope that this swaying of both candle and painting will contextualize the dynamic relationship and lend itself forward like a dance. I relish the fire that flickers and shakes—the fire that makes me dance inside.
Artist Biography
Education
2019 Seoul National University, Western Painting (MFA)
2013 Seoul National University, Western Painting (BFA)
Solo Exhibition
2023 Burning Symmetry, Roy Gallery, Seoul
2019 Black Coloured Light, Show and Tell, Seoul
Group Exhibition
2023 Exhibition/ Publication, Wess, Seoul
2023 From Eggs to Apples, Shinhan Gallery, Seoul
2022 Exhibition/ Publication, Wess, Seoul
2021 No place Like Home, Art Space 0, Seoul
2021 Balance, Art Space 0, Seoul
2020 Support Sarubia, Project Space Sarubia, Seoul
2019 Blind World, Onground, Seoul
2019 The Third Project Show, Project Space Sarubia, Seoul
2019 Salon de Insa - Outward-facing Arm, Art World, Seoul
2019 Rolling, Wooseok Gallery, Seoul
2018 Portfolio Fair, Seoul Art Foundation, Seoul
Installation View (Past Exhibition)
Artworks
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Shield
I first drew symmetry out of anxiety. When I saw symmetry, I visualized a painting and its language in its color, blurred or sharp contours of shapes. For me, symmetry embodied a dense, visual experience. As such the “Shield” series are works inspired by knight's shields, coat of arms, and turtle shells.
Burning Symmetry
At some point, I began to blur symmetry. I am unsure whether I blurred to either comfort my anxiety or to further my angst. The act was reminiscent of a flickering candle, and the blurring of symmetry eventually revealed a certain life-force lurking beneath the fragility to maintain a formative balance. The “burning” methodology is a technique of painting objects blurred as if they were burning. I assumed that the more they blur and burn, the more solid things become. By further blurring the density latent in symmetry, I moved closer to the source of solidity as a trait of this burning symmetry. Ultimately, this solidity paradoxically maintains its shape amidst the blur.
subtle
I wanted to understand what it means to be blurred, to be shaken by inserting myself into such precarity. What Constitutes Flickering? Flickering denotes uncertainty in movement, situations, or mentality. Is it possible to reinterpret such negative connotations of the word through painting? I began drawing candles to figure out the reasons for the light’s seemingly diametric qualities of both uncertainty and solidity.