Yagwang, a visual art collective formed by Kim Terri and Jeon In—both born in the 1990s—reveals the language of representation that subverts fixed notions of identity through various media such as video, sculpture, performance, and painting. As the name Yagwang (meaning "phosphorescence") suggests, the two artists have continued to illuminate and give voice to those considered strange or alien—like phosphorescent objects that momentarily glow in the dark after absorbing light.

Yagwang was formed in 2021 with the performance work Lubricant. In their first solo exhibition of the same name, 《Lubricant》 (Windmill, 2022), Yagwang presented works that responded to the discordant timelines of contemporary life by radically exploring sexuality and challenging fixed visual and conceptual frameworks of gender.
 
The exhibition 《Lubricant》 focused on queer—particularly lesbian—sexuality. In the show, Yagwang engaged visual elements repeatedly appearing in the subcultures shared by their generation of queer (lesbian) individuals, integrating them into fictional narratives. They developed interviews and video works that revealed these identities, along with a simultaneous broadcast performance that brought all of these elements together.

A recurring subject in this body of work is the Russian female duo band t.A.T.u.. The group rose to global fame in the early 2000s with their lesbian concept, gaining immense popularity beyond Russia. However, t.A.T.u. eventually disbanded after members Lena and Yulia revealed the violent and exploitative nature of the concept’s orchestration. Despite this, t.A.T.u. continues to maintain a devoted cult following, with numerous fan accounts still active on social media.

Yagwang poses the question of how the shared memory of t.A.T.u., formed regardless of the surrounding controversies and truth disputes, resonates with queer individuals born in the 1990s. Based on responses to this question, they created a fake interview video titled Lantern.
 
The video features twelve individuals performing stereotypical lesbian characters. Wearing exaggerated makeup, each offers conflicting answers to a single question. Lantern uses t.A.T.u. as a medium to reveal that no one can fully grasp the pace or trajectory of another person’s life.

Alongside the interview video, LATE(X)—a video work based on the artists’ real-life experiences working in clubs—was screened. Within the exhibition space, these two works were brought together in a live dual-channel performance titled Lick my heart. The performance transformed the venue into something resembling a lesbian nightclub. Beginning with a DJ set, over ten performers in diverse costumes and makeup roamed the exhibition space, each embodying their own lesbian-coded personas.
 
Meanwhile, a broadcast performance modeled on a conventional TV talk show setup staged a space where untold stories about lesbian life and love—rarely addressed in mainstream media—could finally be voiced.

As stated in the exhibition preface—"We hope this exhibition allows queers, especially lesbians, to empathize with one another, to affirm each other’s presence, to experience joy through the shame that arises from empathy and recognition, and to share visual satisfaction"—Yagwang’s work creates a space where the often-invisible lives and sexualities of lesbians within the queer spectrum are illuminated and mutually affirmed.

In their recent works, Yagwang has constructed fictional narratives featuring characters that metaphorically embody those who fall outside normative categories, often evoking B-movie aesthetics and installations made from latex, a signature material in their practice.

For example, in their second solo exhibition 《KIND》, held at PS Center in 2024, Yagwang attempted to expand the fictional narrative into real time and space by installing props and set pieces from the video work directly in the exhibition space.
 
The exhibition consisted of the video work Intruder, a recreated installation of its setting, and a simultaneous live performance. The performance, titled Raw Proof, unfolded as “raw proof” of the “intruder” from the video.

The performance began with performers wearing masks resembling mammals with the texture of insect exoskeletons, entering the exhibition space in a line. One of the performers takes on the role of a director or commentator, narrating the current situation and issuing instructions, prompting the other performers to enact various scenes from the video work as if they are being filmed live and simultaneously on-site.
 
Dressed in exaggerated costumes, the performers climb onto a wrestling ring covered with a vinyl sheet, where they attack one another, film the scenes, or walk around with cupping marks resembling lumps—repeating a series of surreal actions. Wearing mutated or alien-like shells, they generate a strange energy, transforming into intruders who create ruptures in the fabric of real space and time.

Yagwang’s work layers multiple identities and heterogeneous temporalities onto the everyday, where a singular and linear space-time typically flows. By inserting alien and queer space-times into the linear flow of daily life, Yagwang aims to “construct a new porous timeline.”

Furthermore, Yagwang presented work where the symbols of sexual identity and class identity are intriguingly intertwined in the group exhibition 《The Poor》 held at Museumhead in 2025.
 
Among these works, the sculpture Sculpture for Visitor (2023), which utilizes the material properties of latex, was first shown at the exhibition 《Motel Exhibition》 held for only 12 hours on October 27, 2023, in a rented motel near Hongdae. This work encapsulates the exhibition’s context, which evoked the spatial characteristics of motels—such as sex work, temporary shelter, and low-cost rest—and was newly restaged in the Museumhead space.

This work is characterized by latex sculptures that wrap around the bed frame. Due to the nature of the material, it emits an ammonia odor and bears traces of gradual corrosion. Hidden within the heavily burdened and ornate sculpture are images collected and cast from various places. Over time, the images gradually distort as the latex surface corrodes.

Meanwhile, a looping video work, Visitor (2023), plays at the head of the bed. In this short black-and-white film, a mutant rat—surviving after consuming a tenant’s rat poison—threatens to overtake the home. The rat’s resistance to being trapped symbolizes a trespassing and occupying body. Its form evokes queer physicality, marked by bodily and genital deformities resulting from drug use. These elements confirm the work’s exploration of intersecting identities.
 
In the video (and other performances), Yagwang places a woman dressed in a maid costume at the center. Beyond the sexualized roleplay of the costume, what stands out is the shadow of reproductive labor—the cleaning of tables and floors in clubs, homes, exhibition spaces, and beyond.

Yagwang, who participated in the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA)’s 《Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now》, expressed everyday stories connected to fear through the new work Dark Ride (2025), rather than objectifying the sensation of fear itself. Set against the backdrop of a horror experience space like the “Haunted House” in the Wolmido theme park, this video unfolds from the perspective of a worker providing the fear experience.

Yagwang created the video by focusing on theme park workers to reveal how fear has become a highly objectified sensation—and, conversely, what kinds of stories can emerge from those who have been objectified. The video is accompanied by installation works that extend into the exhibition space. Through this, the video suggests that the conditions of real-life fear are embedded not only in the route of the dark ride itself but also in the everyday lives of theme park employees.
 
Through these worker-characters, the video also weaves together complex discourses on gender, labor, and care in contemporary society.

In this way, Yagwang has presented works that offer an intersectional perspective on gender through discourses on human rights, generations, and labor, mediated by the body and space. Through art as a common yet temporary experience, these works create diverse and heterogenous timelines within the realities that operate according to “normativity,” visualizing how disparate energies collide and connect.
 
Yagwang’s practice is both an artistic experiment and practice to embrace the diverse identities and energies of numerous queer existences that fall outside the norms defined by society.

 “In a world full of contempt for all those who fall below any standard set by the society we live in, isn’t ‘queerness’ ultimately a word that can embrace all of this?”    (Yagwang, from an artist interview in the MMCA 《Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now》) 

Formed in 2021, Yagwang is a visual arts collective consisting of Kim Terri (b. 1993) and Jeon In (b. 1995). Their solo exhibitions include 《KIND》 (PS Center, Seoul, 2024) and 《Lubricant》 (Windmill, Seoul, 2022).
 
They have also participated in various group exhibitions, including 《Minibus, Oort Cloud, Fluttering Pages》 (ARKO Art Center, Seoul, 2025), 《Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now》 (MMCA, Gwacheon, 2025), 《The Poor》 (Museumhead, Seoul, 2025), 2024 ARKO × OnCurating International collaborative exhibition 《Into the Rhythm: From Score to Contact Zone》 (ARKO Art Center, Seoul, 2024), and 《Motel Exhibition》 (Misungjang Motel, Seoul, 2023).

References

• 국립현대미술관, 작가인터뷰 | 야광 | 젊은 모색 2025: 지금, 여기 (National Musuem of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), ARTIST INTERVIEW | Yagwang | Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now)
• 윈드밀, [서문] 윤활유 (Windmill, [Preface] Lubricant)
• 하루에 하나, 흡수한 빛을 뿜어낼 때 증폭되는 레즈비언의 기쁨
• 서울문화재단, 김세연 - 방문자, 침입자, 목격자. 야광 개인전 《카인드 : Kind》 퍼포먼스 <날것의 증거(Raw Proof)>
• 뮤지엄헤드, [서문] 가난한 자들 (Museumhead, [Preface] The Poor)
• 국립현대미술관, [리플렛] 젊은 모색 2025: 지금, 여기 (National Musuem of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), [Refleat] Young Korean Artists 2025: Here and Now)