Yi Youjin b. 1980

Born in Gangneung in 1980, Yi Youjin felt frustrated with the standardized education system while majoring in Korean painting at Sejong University, and after dropping out of college, she became attracted to German culture while visiting art galleries and universities in Europe. Yi studied painting at the Akademie der Wildenden Künste, Munich from 2004 to 2011 and completed her master's degree under the guidance of Günther Förg. Above all, her meeting with Gunther Förg had a significant impact on her artistic vision as well as her thinking about autonomous and voluntary life.

The concept of "Hinterground," as illuminated by Günther Förg, was a pivotal moment in her artistic development, prompting me to probe deeper into her Korean roots, pondering her identity and origins. Balancing the Korean sensibility inherent in Yi Youjin and the numerous external cultural influences among them was like a tightrope walk. Such inner dialogue influenced the creation of her visual language as an allegory. For in Yi Youjin, who is based in Munich even after graduation, placing herself in an environment where Eastern and Western cultures intersect for her artistic practice is the most important factor. Yi Youjin stands before her art as a mediator of two worlds, the East and the West, which intertwine within the fibers of Hanji and the weave of canvas.

Yi Youjin connects different worlds and creates dreamlike art rich in personal and universal narratives. The ambiguity of the motif arising from the fusion of drawing and painting is intentional and means a continuous pilgrimage to artistic development and self-discovery. Through this, it creates a visual language that can capture the complex layers of the artist's own identity and experiences. Yi's works explore the principles of painting and drawing, and concrete representation is only one aspect of a more complex composition. By entangling symbolic and figurative elements with various formal techniques of painting, such as the contrast between the foreground and the background, and the conversion between the inside and outside, it builds a space of possibility, not a space of restraint. In addition, it pursues 'blank beauty' by deliberately omitting details, which becomes a space for contemplation and interpretation.