Jayoung Yoon is an interdisciplinary artist using human hair as a primary medium. Drawing upon the Buddhist conceptof Emptiness to explore the interdependence of our nature, her work deeply engages with spirituality, psychology, and personal and sociopolitical consciousness. Yoon’s work has been exhibited internationally in numerous museums and galleries. She was born in South Korea, and currently lives and works in Beacon, New York.
For more information, please see: www.jayoungyoon.com, and on Instagram @jayoungart.
Jayoung Yoon, Listening to the Mind I, 2009. Documentation photo of the performance, size variable. Image courtesy of the artist.
First, and most importantly, how are you doing? How are you navigating the highs and lows?
I started writing morning pages, which is a method of daily writing that comes from a book, ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron. The author said we can free-write about whatever's on our mind. For me, sometimes my writings become a combination of poems, doodling, and drawing. I found that it has really helped me to listen to my inner voice, empty my thoughts and have creative ideas. And I have been finding more quiet time for meditation. Whenever I watch the news these days, it is hard for me to see the world without fear and worry. These practices keep me staying positive and moving forward.
Jayoung Yoon, Sensing Thought 06, 2019.Artist's hair, glue, thorn fragment wrapped with hair, 11”h x 5½”w x 5½”d. Image courtesy of the artist.
It's my experience that most artists engage with some level of self-isolation in their day to day art practice. Has this been your experience? And if so, have you found these innate rhythms to be helpful during this larger, world-wide experience of isolation?
I mainly stay at home these days, and make art from home.The knotting and weaving of the hair by hand is time consuming, so having isolatedtime is helpful for me to bring my project to the next stage. However, I miss having good conversations with friends, connecting with the art community, and going to public events. It is great to hear from my fellow artists, and curators who are figuring out how to interact with others through Zoom meetings, newsletters, social media, online exhibitions, virtual studio visits etc. It is so important to keep sharing, especially in difficult times.
Jayoung Yoon, The Membrane, 2017. Artist's hair, glue, 60"h x 30"w. Image courtesy of the artist.
It would be great if you could briefly talk us through your practice. Understanding it is integral to appreciating the multivalence of your work.
My work is composed of strands of my own hair that are 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. My use of human hair lends the work a feeling of intimacy and envelopment, shifting the viewer’s awareness toward subtle perceptions that are often taken for granted.
My choice to use hair stems from my personal experience growing up in Korea. As a child I heard stories passed down through my family about the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Korean War, and the Military Dictatorship that shaped Korea in the 20th century. I remember that when I was young, I often had to run back home because the military police used toxic tear gas against the student protesters.These events and recollections directly and indirectly informed my understanding of the human condition. I searched for my own ways of processing suffering, cleansing memories, and moving toward healing.
I have found that many Buddhist meditation practices offer powerful methods for transforming reactive social emotions like anger, attachment, and suffering into love, compassion, and peace. This led me to visualize cleansing my thoughts and negative emotions through materiality and process. Hair has the potential to embody both mind and matter. In my sculptures I tie hair together piece by piece into nearly invisible forms that represent ineffable thoughts and the conscious and subconscious mind. Hair evokes matter through its visceral, tactile quality, and it is literally a trace and product of the human body.
Jayoung Yoon, Umbicality (A close or intimate connection),2012. Documentation photo of the performance, size variable. Image courtesy of the artist.
Has any of your imagery shifted in a reflection to what's currently happening? And why, or why not?
My artwork hasn’t shifted based on what’s happening but, I see a connection between the current issues and my on-going series of work, ‘Empty Void.’
COVID-19 and the recent racial issues are seemingly different problems, but for me they are an interconnected issue. In a wholistic view of the world, there is a similar fundamental cause to both COVID-19 and the recent racial issues in the nation. It has to do with our sense of separation instead of oneness. I have been reading about how environmental destruction, climate change, and deforestation disrupts the global ecosystem, causing this type of virus to spread to humans. And it likely will become a more common occurrence if we aren’t aware that humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected and more sensitive about our balance within the ecosphere. Also, if we don’t recognize that we are inseparably interconnected no matter what the color of our skin, our nationality and ethnicity, then the separation will continue to cause fear, judgement and anxiety. Unless all people have health, freedom, justice, etc, we don’t live in a society that is interdependent and equitable. The awareness of oneness creates positive emotions of love, compassion, and gratitude.
For the Empty Void series, I am inspired by the core teaching of Buddhism, the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra.
“Form is no other than Emptiness, Emptiness no other than Form
Form is exactly Emptiness, Emptiness exactly Form
Sensation, Conception, Discrimination, Awareness are likewise like this”.
Emptiness in this Sutra doesn’t mean nothing. It means that nothing has any inherent existence. It indicates the constant flux and interrelatedness of all things. We cannot separate ourselves from all the other processes on which they depend.
I have found that this Buddhist view of inter-dependence cultivates compassion and nourishes an awareness of our global inter-connection. It has led me to create a series of paintings, Empty Void. The Empty Void series symbolically uses the circle as an image of oneness. The paintings evoke the interconnectedness of all things and the concept of emptiness.
Jayoung Yoon, Empty Void 32, 2020. Artist's hair, Acrylic medium on panel, 8x8”. Image courtesy of the artist.
Jayoung Yoon, Empty Void 33, 2020. Artist's hair, Acrylic medium on panel, 8x8”. Image courtesy of the artist.
Jayoung Yoon, Empty Void 34, 2020. Artist's hair, Acrylic medium on panel, 10x10”. Image courtesy of the artist.
Are you thinking differently? Coping differently? Inspired differently?
Covid-19 and the recent Black Lives Matter protest movementhave made me think about the artist’s role in the world; how art can create new connections between humanity, animals, and the environment, and transcend global conflicts, and build collective communities. I am not sure yet what visual form I would choose, and what collective actions I would take as an artist. But these ideas are a good starting point to realize my purpose; to love all other species and nature on this earth. I hope my work can challenge the boundaries of spirituality,sociopolitical, and environmental issues in the future.
Jayoung Yoon, The Skull, 2016. Artist's hair, glue, 8"h x 6"w x 8"d. Image courtesy of the artist.
What research or writing are you doing that you find compelling?
Many scientists and spiritual thinkers have found several similarities between quantum physics and spirituality. In physics ‘the act of observation changes that which is being observed.’ In spirituality, our thoughts create our own reality. In other words, our mind can affect the matter. So, if we want to change our reality, we need to go to the origin or cause in our mind.
For example, there is an ancient Hawaiian Prayer “I Am the I.” The prayer was recited to cleanse negativity from one’s mind and thoughts. It is also based on the teaching that there is nothing separate from ourselves, so cleansing a negative thought inside changes the external world.
Art is a manifestation of each artist’s mind and thoughts which can influence others and change the world. I believe artworks facilitate psychological healing through the art experience, and people will feel a sense of oneness with others, connectivity, and totality.
Jayoung Yoon, The Offering Bowl 02, 2018. Artist's hair, feather, thorn fragment, glue, 6"h x 6"w x 6"d. Image courtesy of the artist.
Are you currently working on any longer-term projects?
I am working on an installation titled I Am the Emptiness, in which the viewer can physically explore the work. The installation will be composed of fourteen semi-transparent panels containing images and text embroidered with hair on silk fabric. It draws inspiration from an ancient Hawaiian Prayer “I Am the I,” a prayer recited to cleanse negativity from one’s mind and thoughts. It is also based on the teaching that there is nothing separate from ourselves, so cleansing a negative thought inside changes the external world.
Also, I am currently developing a series, ‘The Offering Bowls’, seven bowls made of human hair and other natural materials including feathers, dandelion seeds, and found animal bones.Inspired by a traditional Buddhist practice, making an offering of seven water bowls is an antidote to greed and attachment. My offering bowls present realizations about the nature of existence, showing us that all things exist interdependently, and that transience and impermanence are part of life
Jayoung Yoon, I Am The Emptiness (detail), 2019. Artist's hair, Korean traditional Silk fabric. Fabric sizes 43”h x 17”w each, installation size variable. Image courtesy of the artist.
Jayoung Yoon, I Am The Emptiness (detail), 2019. Artist's hair, Korean traditional Silk fabric. Fabric sizes 43”h x 17”w each, installation size variable. Image courtesy of the artist.