Installation view © Atelier Hermès

Atelier Hermès presents 《Saint Breeders》, an exhibition introducing another experiment by Yeesookyung, from September 18 to December 20. As the title "Saint Breeders" suggests, the exhibition unfolds along the ‘stream of consciousness’ of Yeesookyung, which is materialized through various media such as painting, sculpture, and video, where one work connects to the next, and that work continues to another.

Through the series Past Life Regression Painting(2015), in which the artist reproduces on canvas the scenes she encountered while regressing deeper and deeper into the unconscious through hypnosis, tracing back to her past life, and the life before that, and the life before that; and the ‘All Asleep’(2015) series, which captures the sweet, fleeting moments when mythical or folkloric figures such as ‘Princess Bari’, ‘Queen Mother of the West (Seowangmo)’, and ‘Tara’ momentarily set down the burdens of their hard and weary lives to fall into slumber, Yeesookyung reveals her recent years of interest in ‘innateness’ and the ‘spirituality’ that resides within it.

This interest of Yeesookyung expands through new works such as White Shadow(2015) and You Were There(2015), newly presented in this exhibition.

Installation view © Atelier Hermès

White Shadow is a video work filmed by the artist during traditional, regional, and religious events held in Tainan, Niigata, and Gangjin. The work is marked by the camera's gaze that captures an individual's presence immersed in their own music and dance amidst the festive atmosphere. This work is an extension of Shadow Dance(2015), which was presented at Yeesookyung’s solo exhibition at MOCA Taipei last June, and also relates to her ongoing interest in incorporating traditional dance performances as part of her installations, as seen in Dazzling Kyobangchoom(2011) and Twin Dance(2012). Yeesookyung’s attempt to reveal the invisible, innate self and the presence of spirituality within that self secures meaningful moments through the medium of ‘dance,’ which has been transmitted from a time far beyond memory, as she reclaims her body and breath in the present.

You Were There is a new project that strongly evokes the title of the exhibition 《Saint Breeders》. The artist applies gold leaf to two stones, keeps one for herself, and donates the other to Baekryeonsa Temple in Gangjin through the temple’s head monk, from whom she also receives two stones. The artist applies gold leaf to these two stones again, keeps one, and gives the other to an acquaintance of the head monk. The acquaintance who receives the gold-leafed stone donates it to their own temple and recommends another acquaintance to the artist along with two stones. This process of exchanging gold-leafed stones, originating from the artist, extending to her acquaintances, to their acquaintances, and to the acquaintances of acquaintances, metaphorically represents the endless generation of new relationships and their expansion.

The exhibition 《Saint Breeders》 continues Yeesookyung’s long-standing interests while transforming them through new variations. The exhibition offers an opportunity to reconsider our bodies and breath, which have gathered and dispersed repeatedly over time, the sacredness that resides within us, and the ways all these elements are embodied through the language of art.

References