Installation view of 《A
Certain Garden》 ©DrawingRoomDrawingRoom
presents Jinsik Yoo’s first solo exhibition in Korea, 《A
Certain Garden》, until August 14.
Based in
the United States, Jinsik Yoo works across both sculpture and two-dimensional
media. In this exhibition, the artist shares “A Certain Garden”—a space that
cannot be owned or named, where all living beings coexist together.
Installation view of 《A
Certain Garden》 ©DrawingRoomThe
exhibition 《A Certain Garden》
presents the complex world that artist Jinsik Yoo has constructed through his
reflections on identity, memory, and nature. The works on display are created
using Yoo’s signature Raku technique, where ceramics heated at high
temperatures are exposed to combustible materials, producing unpredictable
marks. These natural elements of fire and smoke evoke the artist’s childhood
memories, as well as scenes of family and ritual.
The clay
figures featured in the ‘Messenger’ series symbolize beings that will remain
after humanity has vanished. Yoo describes them as “my sons I will never have”
and “messengers who will continue ancestral rites even after death,” using
sculptural language to express narratives of identity that persist beyond
death.
Installation view of 《A
Certain Garden》 ©DrawingRoom《A
Certain Garden》 is also an exploration of dissolving
various boundaries and distinctions. Drawing on a profound understanding of the
ceramic medium, the exhibition combines sculpture, abstracted human forms, tile
arrangements, and bas-relief narratives into a cohesive world. Through this,
the artist offers a vision of a garden landscape where personal memories,
communal histories, mythological imagination, and contemporary sensibilities
intertwine.
