INYoung: Her Landscape – an Investigation of Individuality, Exceptionalism, and Self-Acceptance
Chunbum Park
New York, NY
2024-09-22
Installation view of Blue Mountain 3
Mother-of-pearl in-laid into hanji (mulberry paper), 16x16 inches, 2024
INYoung’s recent solo exhibition at the 4w43rd Gallery, a type of window gallery at the ground level near 5th Avenue, is like a poetic step backwards in a time that pushes forward, faster and faster. Titled “Summer Mountain,” the exhibition is curated by Julie Jang. INYoung, a Korean American artist who is actively pursuing an art career in the greater NYC metropolitan area, paints abstract landscapes.
In her works, which are primarily blue-themed except for one painting in red and crimson, we see a pattern of mountains or fish scales that rise and come down in an interlocking rhythm. Among the blue (or red) colors consisting of hanji paper, which has a matte and a more somber quality, we see a singular shape that shines and glitters brightly, made of mother-of-pearl. This material is traditionally used in Korean furniture made of lacquered wood, but in recent times artists and designers have appropriated the material for their modern and contemporary works.
Installation view of Blue Mountain 5
Mother-of-pearl in-laid into hanji (mulberry paper), 36x36 inches, 2024
What is INYoung trying to say with her work, in which an individual unit within the composition is highlighted and adorned with a semi-precious material?
Since the advent of modernism and westernization around the globe, a theme or a conflict of sort that goes back many decades (or a few centuries) is the question of individualism versus collectivism within Asian societies or amongst Asian people. Should a person conform to the society’s demands and needs, or should she chart her own path of individual fulfillment and desires?
The juxtaposition of the mother-of-pearl with hanji paper, which is matte and more somber of a material, creates a tension and contrast between the two, just like between the self and the others.
Installation view of Blue Mountain 2
Mother-of-pearl in-laid into hanji (mulberry paper), 16x16 inches, 2024
We can see how the larger, surrounding units of mountains, which are made of hanji and are more modest, are in an ideological conflict with the shape of the self, consisting of mother-of-pearl. The former asks the latter to stop shining and to step down as the main character of the narrative, but the latter refuses.
While it is a common stereotype of Asian societies as being collectively driven or focused, INYoung’s landscapes suggest a more individualistic understanding of self and our relationship to the larger society.
A quality of innocence or cute kind of simplicity is implied by the mountain shapes, which rise and then bend downwards in a somewhat rounded fashion. The mountains’ abstract silhouettes, also made of mother-of-pearl, desire to keep going up and up, in an unlimited fashion like a straight, uninterrupted diagonal line; however, it is the reality that brings them back down, thus creating the mountain-like, upside-down V-shapes and patterns.
But the artist is a dreamer and an idealist. Her shape also goes up from the left and comes down to the right. However, there is something within her that equates to self-acceptance, and this is symbolized by the inner surface that brims with light and color, being comprised of the rich material of mother-of-pearl. While at entirely different levels of their careers, INYoung’s self-acceptance in her Summer Mountain series is the similar kind that can be observed in Jeff Koon’s “Seated Ballerina” (2017), in which the ballerina is looking at herself and composed in a state of acceptance.
Installation view of Blue Mountain 4
Mother-of-pearl in-laid into hanji (mulberry paper), 16x16 inches, 2024
There is the story of the rainbow fish that gave away her fish rainbow scales to the other fish to gain friendships and acceptance from others, from a Korean illustrated children’s book. Like the rainbow fish in the story, INYoung would give away the rainbow scales but for a different reason; it is because she already believes herself to be innately special and exceptional, and she is at peace with herself in a loving and accepting manner. And it is this kind of self-love that could conflict with Korean society and diaspora, in which individual humility and collective thinking could come into greater priority (relative to a western society) than any kind of individuality or exceptionalism. Has she found a culture and a community in America that is more appreciative of her outlook towards herself? It is hard to say.
Upon a subsequent examination, however, the internal conflict and difference within her work appears trivial and unimportant relative to the underlying sense of peace and harmony that arises from the position of self-acceptance. This is the impossibility and contradiction made sense in INYoung’s work: beginning with the state of exceptionalism, the artist arrives at a point of self-acceptance, from which she draws peaceful and harmonious energy which allows her to co-exist with and accept others who may be different from her. This kind of relationship and state of being for the artist, which begin with the exceptionalism of the self and self-acceptance, and which and leads to the state of co-existence, can be read as a metaphor that defines these abstract landscapes.
Installation view of Red Sea 1
Mother-of-pearl in-laid into hanji (mulberry paper), 24x36 inches, 2024
In INYoung’s visual metaphors, the mother-of-pearl stands for the highlight, while the hanji paper substitutes the shadow. In some cases, contrast and difference of elements that compete with one another leads to cacophony and discord; however, as we see in INYoung’s works, the difference between the mother-of-pearl and hanji suggests co-existence, just as certain chords on the piano complement one another in harmony. And this is what the artist strives for in both her art and life – the co-existence and harmony that come from self-acceptance based on individualism and exceptionalism.
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