The exhibition features a new series of You’s paintings on wood panels made with acrylic and polymer clay. You works with ready made palettes in both clay and acrylic, pulling a wide range of color, affect and form from limited beginnings.
The paintings continue the artist’s ongoing experimentation with abstract polymer clay sculptures. These forms are made intuitively and directly with minimal tools. In this latest work, she has introduced gestural painting over, around, and in between her dimensional shapes. Previously these polymer forms were present and graphic on the surface of her monochrome panels. In this latest iteration, there is a tension between dimension and brushmark, as the clay is both support and speed bump for her energetic mark making.
You makes most of her works on the floor, arranging compositions without consideration for orientation or final display. Her method of painting relies on gravity and chance with minimal revision. This working method also relates to the artist’s early years in South Korea, where the floor is traditionally seen as a central aspect of daily life used for sitting, eating, studying, sleeping, and making art.