The Experiential Aspect of Painting
Haeju Kim
Once again, I am reminded how challenging it is to articulate a painting in words. A painting emerges from the convergence of countless choices—colors, lines, the texture of paint, and methods of application. Simply explaining the process analytically is insufficient to convey the emotions that arise during appreciation, while speaking solely about emotions seems inadequate in properly revealing the questions underlying the meticulous choices the artist makes during the creative process.
I have encountered the works of Hyangro Yoon through various exhibitions over the past decade. When I first saw her works in the early to mid-2010s, I was particularly struck by her production process, which was the focus of many analytical discussions at the time. These discussions primarily described her works as an exploration of the originality of images—a hallmark of painting in the digital age—through the appropriation and referencing of media images. A notable example is her Screenshot series from 2016 onward, where she erased characters from animations and painted scenes using graphics that express energy. Other significant examples include the Screensaver series after 2018, which referenced images from art history and explored how sculptures could be constructed within paintings using planar forms and flat surfaces, and the Tagging series from 2022 onward, which revisited painting techniques by referencing the tagging methods of graphic artists. This ongoing exploration of painting methodologies through the borrowing and referencing of images remains a defining characteristic of Yoon's work.
However, while viewing her recent exhibitions, I have found myself contemplating the emotions directly conveyed to viewers through her works and their installation methods, rather than analyzing her painting methodologies. The captivating colors and intricate details of her artwork have always served as the initial draw for viewers. Recently, my appreciation seems to lean not only toward her technical application and experimentation but also toward the emotional depth expressed in her work. I cannot say for certain whether this shift stems from specific developments in her work or changes in my perspective as a viewer. What is clear is that I find myself increasingly focused on the emotions conveyed within the space shaped by her works—in other words, the sensations evoked through the physical experience of viewing. This appreciation deepened when I attended the artist's solo exhibition Drive to the Moon and Galaxy at Gajah Gallery in Yogyakarta in 2023.
The black and deep blue backgrounds, with spattered paint, evoke the vastness of outer space. Organic shapes, such as tree branches and roots, subtly emerge amidst these elements, signaling a shift away from the everyday visual references the artist has often explored. Instead, they evoke an impression of unseen dimensions or overlapping layers of deeper time and expansive space. The composition of images—where underlying elements seep through and overlap with the surface—creates a multilayered spacetime within a single plane. The artist's installation methods, which transform flat canvases into sculptural forms or integrate paintings with spatial elements, further enhance this impression. As of December 2024, her most recent ongoing exhibition, Mirae, features a striking departure from traditional wall-mounted displays. Instead, the artist has installed divided canvas surfaces on the ceiling, where they converge to form the work. This exhibition, held in a commercial building rather than a conventional art gallery, invites viewers to stand or lie beneath the paintings, gazing upward at the images as if observing a church ceiling fresco. Vertical trees are reimagined as horizontal elements on the ceiling, merging the space between sky and earth while aligning the viewer's body horizontally. This positioning of the body within the image expands the experiential dimension of the painting, leaving the viewer in a state of humility and vulnerability. Additionally, the changing spatial conditions, influenced by the winter light streaming through the windows, become an integral part of the viewing experience.
This exhibition experience evokes fundamental emotions deeply intertwined with the human body while simultaneously invoking abstract, immeasurable phenomena associated with concepts such as loss and creation, aging, life, and death. The abstract forms in her paintings and their installations encourage reflection on what precisely sparks such profound emotional resonance. The colors and forms selected by the artist during the creation of her works and exhibitions evoke inherent associations in the viewer—for example, contemplating infinity and death through monochromatic paintings extended into space or recalling past memories of gazing at church ceiling frescoes. These associations may also connect to the artist’s long-standing practice of referencing as part of her painting methodologies. Hyangro Yoon appears to be exploring new ways of fostering deep emotional connections with viewers through abstract forms and spatial installations in her work. As both the artist’s and viewers’ life experiences continue to accumulate, the repertoire of associations will expand, further enriching the emotional exchanges within her works and installations.
Haeju Kim (Curator)
Haeju Kim is Senior Curator at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM). She is co-curator of the 9th Asian Art Biennial (2024) and served as Exhibition Director of the 2022 Busan Biennale We, on the Rising Wave. From 2017 to 2021, she was Deputy Director at Art Sonje Center. Her curatorial interests include the body and memory, migration, and language. At Art Sonje Center, she curated exhibitions such as Dust Clay Stone (2020) and The island of the colorblind (2019), and solo exhibitions by artists including Koki Tanaka, Hwayeon Nam, Donghee Koo, and Lee Kit. She also organized the Moving/Image performance and exhibition program (2016, 2017, 2020), which explores how movement emerges across various visual art media.
