Woonhae Yea

'Slides, of course, offered a virtually infinite range of cheap pictures easily accumulated. Their small size meant that they could be readily manipulated, while their transparency meant that they could be enlarged to the typical scale of paintings without the imposition of a lot of physical material.' 

An extract from Slide Show: Projected Images in Contemporary Art, Charles Harrison, 2005. 

With 2 slide carousel projectors and 1 sound/slide projector installed concurrently, the work invites the audience into my scavenging towards things. It consists of both mundane and transcendental images as well as mechanical yet vibrant sounds, creating an atmosphere of witness to my day-to-day practice.

Scavenging is a part of the ongoing series, SIL-oo-ET (Silhouette).

Via my street litter bin, I want to share with the audience some romanticised scenery and mood, derived from promotional travel brochures. Images scavenged from Worldwide Adventure Tours 2021-2022, which are outdated and discarded in the declining global travel current, resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

A set of 6 original litter signs supported by Glasdon UK Limited.   

Worldwide Adventure Tours via Victorian-Style Street Litter Bin is a part of the ongoing series, SIL-oo-ET (Silhouette).

In Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein, she created an incorruptible being, the Creature, through Dr. Victor Frankenstein, as a reflection on the rapid advancement of technology at that time.

Amazed and influenced by both the novel and the current urban norms, I see, feed, and create my ‘beings’, substitutes that appear to be in the shapes of crows, ravens and rooks. These scavengers are filled with discards that I hunt in my everyday practice.

47 birds-ongoing

Substitute – Corvus is a part of the ongoing series, SIL-oo-ET (Silhouette).

‘Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay

To mould me man? Did I solicit thee

From darkness to promote me?’

A quote from Paradise Lost, John Milton, 1667.

Also inspired by Frankenstein, this series of works are the X-rays of Substitute – Corvus. The title is compounded with ‘cyborg’ and ‘bird’.

Cybird is a part of the ongoing series, SIL-oo-ET (Silhouette).

‘Whether you have your own Jaturi or not, if you have your own scarecrow (or not!), how do they live?’ 

Jaturi is the given name of my scarecrow work. This name substitutes a scarecrow which resembles a human being, and came from a Korean word (the mother tongue of mine) which means some leftover pieces of cloth or scrap of something. Yes, ‘Jaturi’ itself is humble. Something minority, thrown away, left out, remained, and is on the verge. Usually, it is pronounced as rather strong ‘ZZA-turi 짜-투리’, than soft ‘JA-turi 자-투리’. 

Think about the way you treat your PIZZA crust. I would like to announce the poignant word ‘Jaturi’, opposed to the fashionable ‘Garment-Bark’. Its spirit can be reversed into something gleeful. 

The work is made of Jaturi from our day-to-day life. Sample garments scavenged from fashion designer, Inok Chung.

Jaturi (Small Figure) 30 x 20 x 5 cm

Jaturi’s Grand Adventure (Garment-Bark) Dimensions variable

Jaturi is a part of the ongoing series, SIL-oo-ET (Silhouette).

‘EXCLUSIVE DEALS! Please see our amazing souvenirs. For 5 days only. I have to shut down this shop next month, because of Corona. No tourists, hence clearance.’ 

Conversations from (D)ISCOVER BRITANNIA, Notting Hill.

Fantastic Souvenirs 1+1 is a part of the ongoing series, SIL-oo-ET (Silhouette).