Yu JinYoung’s Transparent Sculptures Illuminate Invisible Lives and Unmask Societal Isolation

Sculptor Yu JinYoung captivates global audiences with her evocative figures set in transparent forms, an exploration of those who might wish to vanish from public view. “These are individuals who wish to become invisible,” she states, capturing a deep-seated wish for freedom from societal scrutiny. This penchant for contemplating isolation and loneliness in her art predates our entwined modern crises — the pandemic, the A.I. surge, and widespread discussions on themes like the “male loneliness epidemic.” These recent global shifts have only amplified the narrative the South Korean artist has woven through her creations over the years.

Social isolation as art

Addressing the shift in life post-pandemic, Yu says, “Gatherings disappeared naturally, and declining meetings no longer felt difficult.” There was solace in solitude, as she reflects through translation via CHOI&CHOI Gallery. Masks became a tool for anonymity, leading to a renewed sense of freedom as people embraced a lifestyle that was once confined to a selective few.

Yu’s sculptural installations manifest in various forms, merging surrealist themes with everyday life. Her vivid, eerie creations utilize materials like painted plaster and transparent PVC, with the faces delicately sculpted in clay and cast in fiberglass-reinforced plastic. Through acrylics, she transformed her previous use of pastels, creating faces that exhibit an ambiguous redness around the eyes and cheeks, purposefully leaving emotional states open to interpretation.

The evolving challenges of creation

The crafting process remains laborious, requiring patience and precision, and defying simplification even as her methods evolved. Her increasing standards demand more time as she pushes boundaries of complexity in her figures. “If I were to recreate an earlier work now, I could probably execute it more easily,” Yu remarks, yet she acknowledges her current benchmarks would render past accomplishments unsatisfactory.

Consider diverse artistic expressions of isolation in Paige Beeber’s pandemic-inspired abstractions, capturing the uncertainty of living in recent times.

Motifs like accompanying creatures—cats and dogs beside their transparent human counterparts—steer attention while emphasizing the absence of opacity in her characters. “People tend to notice and respond to animals before they do to other humans,” Yu explains, rendering these animals as solid and opaque, standing in contrast with their spectral owners.

A shift toward new expressions

Recently, Yu’s work has ventured toward fully opaque figures, marking a new chapter in her creative journey. Her sculpture “The Life #21” symbolizes life’s unyielding flow, depicting interconnected opaque characters.

This shift correlates with a personal breakthrough. A fire in her apartment building exposed her life to outsiders, forcing her into a vulnerable state. “It felt as though their curiosity about the person who had been quietly hiding had suddenly rushed in all at once,” she recalls, confronting the fragility of her concealed existence. This incident propels her toward new artistic horizons, contemplating a pause from her renowned transparent works.

This article appears in Hi-Fructose Issue 78, which is available here in print.

Explore how other artists express contemporary themes in Michael Velliquette’s sculpted paper works, reflecting themes of light and consciousness.

Source: hifructose.com

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