윷 (Yoot)

Artist's curation

After finally graduating from college, I found myself back at grandma’s house in Korea. In my Kindergarten yearbook I dressed up as a painter, paintbrush and palette in hand, beret on head, I wanted to be just like grandma.

At grandma’s house is over 40 years of art, canvases are stacked on top of one another. Dark, abstract expression works from her days in art school. Oil paintings in deep hues, scenes from her daily life, of women and children in the markets of Cote d’Ivoire. Pretty pastel portraits of my cousins and I, collaged with imprints our of infant feet.

It was Lunar New Year, I laid out a sheet of canvas on the floor and began tracing yoot sticks with graphite to fill up the canvas. To replicate the color of the wooden yoot, grandma and I mixed up paint she amassed over the years from life in Ivory Coast, the US, and travels to Europe. Some decades old and unopened, some dried into a clump, some rancid and from a brand that no longer exists. This is a color that will be impossible to replicate.

Insa (the act of bowing) was something I had to get back into the habit of doing in Korea. I distilled the movement to its’ form and traced it out. Again, with Insa, I used the materials in her studio. An avid collager, I used her Elmer’s glue to build up the Insa forms to give body and make tangible.

Surviving various cancers from her breast to her brain over twenty years, she is the strongest woman I know. Learning from grandma, I use art to manage my own mental illness and live a bold, meaningful life.

Artist Story:

Suzy Kim is a Korean artist born in Seoul, currently based in Hong Kong. She explores the “journey of creation” that arises from repetitive actions. Her unique technique, which involves creating forms with adhesive and filling them with paint, is inspired by Korean sentiment and the philosophy of Dansaekhwa (단색화: Korean Monochrome Painting), visualizing the boundary where the artist’s inner world meets the external world. Having majored in Studio Art and English at Boston College, she gained recognition for her artistic merit by receiving the 2021 Allison R. McComber Junior Award. She continues to actively present her unique perspective through numerous group exhibition in the United States. Currently, she is expanding her identity as a Korean artist while establishing herself as a promising creator based in Hong Kong. 

Information: 

Size: 168 x 180.5 cm
Material: Acrylic on canvas
Year of completion: 2023

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