NA JEOM SOO, YOON SANG YUEL

Yoon Sang Yuel’s ‘Silence’ series explores the intersection of the analog and digital worlds, taking a deep dive into the theme of fear through optical art. Meanwhile, Na Jeom Soo’s works fuse the innate, life-giving energy of wood with creative thought, exploring the realm of abstract sculpture. The works of both artists guide viewers into a radiant world of enlightenment through art that seems to embody wisdom gained through self-cultivation over a long period of time.

Yoon Sang Yuel’s art invites viewers into a contemplative world, seeking wisdom within the light of profound darkness, while Na Jeom Soo’s pieces present moments of grasping the essence of life and death by offering an unfamiliar perspective on the original place of existence that traverses both the past and the future.

Na Jeom Soo (b. 1969) presents unrefined wood in amorphous forms with minimal intervention, revealing the material’s inherent properties as they are. His approach reflects a 30-year artistic journey, with these experiences serving as the driving force behind his work. Na conveys the essence of places he has been and moments he has experienced while traveling to remote corners of the world from a phenomenological perspective. His sculptures avoid representational forms, instead encapsulating a primal energy that holds traces of life and death.

Na recently participated in the Korean Crafts Show in Milan 2024: Thoughts on Thickness. At The Page Gallery, he took part in a two-person exhibition with Lee Kun Yong in 2018 and a solo exhibition in 2023. Some of his notable achievements include being named Artist of the Year by the Kim Chong Yung Museum (2016) and having one of his works selected as a symbolic art piece for the Sangam DMC (2009). Today, his works are part of the collections of the Chang Ucchin Museum of Art, Pohang Museum of Steel Art, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA).

Yoon Sang Yuel (b. 1970) repeats the act of line-drawing as a means of overcoming an inner fear. His signature ‘Silence’ series presents linear paintings that combine analog lines with digital printing. Yoon meticulously draws countless delicate lines, repeating them ad infinitum, it seems. He then conducts visual experiments by structurally layering transparent materials, such as acrylic panels, resulting in a striking sense of depth that seems to touch the quiet inner world beyond the surface. This endless repetition of line-drawing, which is reminiscent of gathering fragments of everyday life, reflects the artist’s existential stance.

Yoon Sang Yuel was a resident artist at Cité internationale des arts in Paris (2007, France) and has showcased his works at a number of different international exhibitions, including the Korea-Vietnam Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition (2019, Hanoi, Vietnam), Renzo Cortina (2015, Italy), and the Window of K-Art exhibition (2014, Indonesia). Some of his works are currently held in the collections of institutions such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) and the Daegu Art Museum.