Exhibition Information

Exhibition view

(Source = Art Center White Block)

Exhibition view

(Source = Art Center White Block)

Exhibition view

(Source = Art Center White Block)

Exhibition view

(Source = Art Center White Block)

			Puzzles That Daydream About Tomorrow

Hyun-Mi Yoo is an artist with a flexible temperament on media and genres. Her works intersect photography, painting, sculpture, installation and video, and even connect to literature such as poetry and novels. Her constant experimentation with mixing and matching the best of each medium has allowed her to create sensual images that capture the attention of modern people. With a love for the world and a curiosity about human nature, Yoo continues to discover new interests by observing the world around us. Recently, she has produced works derived from her novels she had written with inspiration from her life as an artist and contemporary society.

Among them, the Series of Puzzle from 1998 is an important work that offers a glimpse into her pure self with its unique lyricism. Originating from the contradictory imagination of the existence of a pure white puzzle with no pictures on it, the series is special in that it has grown with her for the last 26 years or so. Yoo’s puzzles began as sculptures and installations, but through the process of accumulating narratives, they were completed as literature, and they moved on to three-dimensional, flat, and video works. Above all, her puzzles have served as the most fundamental work that honestly captures her inner changes over the course of her life.

Her early puzzle works were made of white puzzles with nothing drawn on them, as she first envisioned. The puzzle pieces were assembled to create structures such as floors or staircases, where flat puzzles that should be two-dimensional in nature take on a three-dimensional form. They reflect her deep thoughts over the nature of existence, while representing the structure of consciousness and unconsciousness on the front and back of the bleached puzzles based on her surrealistic imagination.

Her puzzles later traveled around the country and abroad, taking on more freeform shapes. They became wells, mirrors, flowing rivers, solid bronze sculptures that stood alone in the middle of the city, and glass puzzles that became windows in buildings and subways. In this period, she expanded her materials beyond paper and wood to include acrylic, mirror, glass, and stainless steel, with a focus on her relationship with herself and surroundings.

The Puzzle series after a brief hiatus reemerged in 2019 with a different twist. From this point on, she moved away from the universal shape of puzzles with unevenness and created puzzles that are jagged or rounded without any regularity. The puzzles are dominated by highly saturated colors such as blue, yellow, and purple, which were previously difficult to see. Expanding infinitely against the backdrop of space in both large and small sizes, the puzzles were no longer dependent on other puzzles to hold them together. They were like living beings with their own personalities, seeking harmony and freedom in their relationships with their surroundings.

The process of change is also reflected in her novel The Blank Puzzle ¹, which is a literary adaptation of the series so far. In this novel, which realistically captures the anguish of “Blank,” the only white puzzle without a picture in the puzzle world, she describes the protagonist’s journey of self-growth like the progression of the Puzzle series. This is a point where we can see that even when she stopped publishing her works, she continued to create stories and think about other ways of communication. In addition, the fairytale-like setting where an anthropomorphic puzzle searches for the value of life and the delicate and concise writing style reveal her intention that puzzle stories can be familiar and interesting to the public.
 
In the novel, Blank the puzzle is constantly tormented by the comparison of its body with those around it. Although it is happy to interact with friends who have pictures, such as Blue Puzzle, Yellow Puzzle, and Red Puzzle, it feels inadequate and withdrawn as it compares his life to theirs, where its goal is to be a part of a “big picture.” When it meets a new owner named Keith and a rotten piece of wood called Black Star, who claims to be a star, it learns from them how to love itself. The story ends with how it can see itself, dreaming. Blank’s story offers empathy and comfort to those of us who get by with deprivation every day.
 
This exhibition presents another series of Puzzle from Blank’s story. Blank’s envied Blue Puzzle appears as a monster piece (Blue Monster, 2023), while new pairs of puzzles such as “Black Star,” the perfect pair that made Blank and Black Star stand out from the crowd, make a harmony(A Perfect Duet No. 1-3, 2023). In addition, Keith’ studio where Blank grew up comes into reality(Keith’s Room No.1-3, 2023). As the series continues with add-on, it makes the audience look forward to seeing her inner life grow freer and stronger.
 
Yoo’s puzzles, which started to have a dream, have become stunning ones with more colors than anyone else’s even without pictures. The little puzzle now faces each day differently, daydreaming about tomorrow. If you want to join her on this journey, pick up a puzzle and listen to your inner voice. You will see how exciting and rewarding it is to dream of a future that only you can imagine. Who knows, the moment you have been imagining and wishing for will become a reality today.
 

Jinyeong Kim (Curator, Art Center White Block)

(Source = Art Center White Block)