Yon Yi Sohn

My focus is on system, control, and authorship. I explore these concepts through geometric abstract forms and colour placement, with the media of painting, drawing, and installation.

I start my work with a certain system while remaining flexible enough to respond to the way the images develop throughout the process. I add thin layers of grey until certain patterns emerge, then add subtle colours in shapes or in lines. Grey presents equilibrium and variety at the same time. It is subtle, yet complex; quiet, yet thrilling; opening opportunities for unexpected and emotional transformations.

The notion of authorship, to me, is related to the autonomy of the work—relationships between the teller of the tale and tale itself being told. Freedom within the self-imposed rules and systems.

Through these patterns and colours, I try to achieve the sense of balance: of numbers and forms; of mathematical beauty; and of geometric elegance. Sometimes, there is within my lines and shapes something which is reminiscent of the natural world, loosely connecting the abstract to reality.

I consider my practice more like a daily ritual, close to zen meditation exercise (mixing colours and applying them repeatedly, almost mechanically) or even a zen dialogue—often I find myself questioning and responding in turn with the work.

This process, in theory, could be never-ending. While the goal may be to reach a state of aesthetical sublime where process and images are reciprocal, it is the journey there which matters to me.