Jayoung Yoon (; born 1979) is a South Korean artist known for her interdisciplinary work using human

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

and other natural materials. Yoon draws inspiration from diverse sources, including

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

philosophies, as well as other spiritual traditions. Her artistic practice spans various media, including sculpture, performance, video, and two-dimensional works. Yoon lives and works in Beacon, New York, seeking to infuse her life and work with a closer connection to nature.

Early life and education

Yoon was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. She earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

from

Hongik University Hongik University (; colloquially as Hongdae) is a private university in Mapo District, Mapo, Seoul, South Korea. It was founded in 1946. The university also maintains a branch campus in Sejong City. The university's colloquial name, "Hongdae ...

in Korea and later moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2006 to continue her education. She received a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in fiber arts from

Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Academy of Art, a graduate school for architecture, art, and design, was founded by George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth in 1932. It is the art school of the Cranbrook Educational Community. Located in Bloomfield Hills, Mi ...

in Michigan in 2009.

Work

Themes and inspiration

Yoon's art is rooted in exploring invisible thoughts, perception and the body to achieve a state of

mindfulness Mindfulness is the cognitive skill, usually developed through exercises, of sustaining metacognitive awareness towards the contents of one's own mind and bodily sensations in the present moment. The term ''mindfulness'' derives from the Pali ...

. Yoon views human hair as a symbol bridging the physical and spiritual realms, often using it as her primary material. She employs lengths of hair hand-knotted or woven together to create semi-transparent sculptural forms and two-dimensional geometric images. These intricate structures that can take countless hours to create. The delicate and tactile nature of the medium demands attention and presence, as the work can shift as a result of subtle changes in airflow. In addition to human hair, Yoon works with other natural materials such as feathers and milkweed seed fiber. She has recently incorporated traditional Korean

horsehair Horsehair is the long hair growing on the Mane (horse), manes and Tail (horse), tails of horses. It is used for various purposes, including upholstery, brushes, the Bow (music), bows of musical instruments, a hard-wearing Textile, fabric called ...

weaving techniques into her works, connecting her contemporary practice with cultural heritage.

Sculpture

Yoon's sculptural works explore themes of interconnectedness, emptiness, and life cycles. ''Web of Life'' (2015–2017), a large-scale work with a 9-foot diameter, is composed of tiny hand-made knots, intertwining hair from immediate and extended family members to represent their connection in life. The ''Form and Emptiness'' series (2015–2017) features woven mesh boxes with geometric forms, hung from the ceiling. Each cradles a different geometric shape at its heart, creating a visual dialogue between form and void, structure and absence. ''The Skull'' (2016), a hair-adorned sculpture made of hair and glue, represents life cycles and mortality. ''The Offering Bowl #7'' (2022) uses her mother's hair, expressing the cycle of life and acknowledging the influence her mother played in her art.

Performances and video art

Extending her artistic practice, Yoon creates performance pieces and video art that further explore themes of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

, and the connection between body and

mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

. Her performances frequently involve subjecting herself to the elements for extended periods, aiming to achieve a state of empathetic mindfulness. In her film ''Listen to the Mind I'' (2009), a nine-minute video condensed from 10 hours of footage, Yoon lies naked in a white cube. A hair funnel from her ear remains unaffected by sunlight while her skin burns, symbolizing mental resilience amid physical change. Her short videos explore the reductive essence of meditation, as seen in works like ''Non-Ego'' (2010), a video installation featuring eleven large pots and the artist's body. Another work, ''Umbicality'' ''(A close or intimate connection)'' (2012), explores the connection between sky and body, air and skin, using her hair to bridge between nothingness and form. In 2012, Yoon presented ''Clearing the Mind'', a performance piece at Deep Tanks gallery, further demonstrating her exploration of meditative states through artistic expression.

Critical reception

Critics describe Yoon's work as delicate and unsettling in its beauty, thought-provoking and contemplative. Her artistic approach is viewed as phenomenological, investigating perception and the body. The tactile and fragile nature of her chosen medium, human hair, is often emphasized as a key element in her work. Critics note how this medium demands attention and presence from the audience, with subtle changes in airflow potentially altering the viewer's

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

of the piece. Yoon's distinctive ability to blend

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

and

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

is highlighted, creating works that draw viewers into deep

contemplation In a religious context, the practice of contemplation seeks a direct awareness of the Divinity, divine which Transcendence (religion), transcends the intellect, often in accordance with religious practices such as meditation or contemplative pr ...

Selected fellowships and grants

* Joan Mitchell Fellowship (2023) * AHL Foundation Artist Fellowship (2020) * MacDowell Fellowship (2018) * Ora Schneider Regional Residency Grant (2017) * BRIC Media Arts Fellowship, Brooklyn, New York (2014) * The Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art (2010)

Selected artist residencies

* Millay Arts, Austerlitz, New York (2019) * MacDowell, Peterborough, New Hampshire (2018) * Saltonstall Foundation Artist-in-Residence, Ithaca, New York (2017) * I-Park Foundation Artist-in-Residence, East Haddam, Connecticut (2013) * Sculpture Space, Utica, New York (2011) *

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 ...

, Madison, Maine (2009)

Selected exhibitions

Yoon's work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows at museums, galleries, and art institutions across the United States and internationally.

Solo exhibitions

* ''Perceiving Emptiness,'' Rose Lehrman Art Gallery, HACC, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (2023) * ''Sowing Seeds of Emptiness,'' Garrison Art Center, Garrison, New York (2022) * ''Seeing the Threshold,''

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is an art museum in Downtown San Jose, California, USA. Founded in 1977, the museum is the first in the United States devoted solely to quilts and textiles as an art form. Holdings include a permanent coll ...

, San Jose, California (2018) * ''Ephemerality'', Theo Ganz Studio, Beacon, New York (2016)

Group exhibitions

* ''Don't Touch My Hair'', Hannah Traore Gallery, New York, New York (2024) * ''Interlacement,'' The Korea Society, New York, New York (2021) * ''The Day After'', Culture House, Washington, D.C. (2021) * ''Hair: Textures of Belonging'', Studio 3 Gallery,

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

, Canterbury, United Kingdom (2020) * ''Materialized,'' Hampden Gallery,

UMass Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the Ma ...

, Massachusetts (2019) * ''Fiberart International 2019,'' Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2019) * ''Hand/Eye'', Form & Concept, Santa Fe, New Mexico (2018) * ''Sutures,'' Marc Straus, New York, New York (2018) * ''Multilayered'': New Prints 2018/Summer, Print Center New York, New York (2018) * ''The ArtsWestchester 2018 Triennial,'' ArtsWestchester, White Plains, New York (2018) * ''Bronx Calling: The Fourth AIM Biennial,'' The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, New York (2018) * ''CICA Experimental Film and Video,'' Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (2016) * ''Portal Art Fair,''

Federal Hall Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States under the Constitution. Serving as the meeting place of the First United States Congress and the site of George Washington's first presidential inauguration, the building existe ...

, New York, New York (2016) * ''Threaded,'' Flatiron Project Space,

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

, New York, New York (2016) * ''The 11th Busan International Video Art Festival,'' Busan, Korea (2014) * ''East and West: Asian Influence on Contemporary American Craft'', Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH (2013) * ''Sacred Vision, Separate Views,''

Tibet House US Tibet House US (THUS) is a Tibetan cultural preservation and education 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1987 in New York City by a group of Westerners after the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, expressed his wish to establish a cultural inst ...

, New York, New York (2012) * ''Show me your hair'', Coreana Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea (2011) * ''Containment,'' Garfo Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (2010) * ''Hair Tactic,'' Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, New Jersey (2010)

Collections

* Richardson Family Art Museum,

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1854, it is one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the American Civil War that still ope ...

, Spartanburg, South Carolina * Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, Nebraska

References

External links

Official website

Artist Talk: Jayoung Yoon

In the Studio: Jayoung Yoon
(interview) {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoon, Jayoung 1979 births Living people 21st-century South Korean women artists Artists from Seoul Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni Franklin Furnace artists Hongik University alumni MacDowell Colony fellows South Korean contemporary artists Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni