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Collection
Formation Series
Choongmok Yoo
Work Description
- Media Glass, Acrylic on canvas
- Location THE GRAND LOTTE SEOUL
This work captures within a single surface both the formation of water droplets and the circulation of memory. To the artist, droplets are forms created as moisture gathers in the air, and they symbolize the process by which scattered experiences and time accumulate to shape the self.
The softly spreading circular traces on the surface evoke a sense of circulation, as memory does not remain fixed in one place but returns and disperses over time. The glass droplets placed upon them appear as independent moments, yet together they form a circular flow, creating a scene in which memories of the past are gathered again through the sensibility of the present.
Clear and transparent, the glass droplets change their shadows and reflections according to light and the viewer’s gaze, reflecting past time like a lens. This work quietly and densely reveals the formation of existence, recollected memory, and the sense of circulating time.
The softly spreading circular traces on the surface evoke a sense of circulation, as memory does not remain fixed in one place but returns and disperses over time. The glass droplets placed upon them appear as independent moments, yet together they form a circular flow, creating a scene in which memories of the past are gathered again through the sensibility of the present.
Clear and transparent, the glass droplets change their shadows and reflections according to light and the viewer’s gaze, reflecting past time like a lens. This work quietly and densely reveals the formation of existence, recollected memory, and the sense of circulating time.
About the Artist
Choongmok Yoo is an artist who explores time, memory, and existence through the materiality of glass. He was recognized early for his international potential.
The artist combines glass droplets with rough jute canvas, expressing the dual nature of glass—transparent yet solid, strong yet fragile. To him, water droplets are not merely a representation of nature. They are a symbol of beginning and end, formation and circulation, and the traces of memory that remain between presence and disappearance. As light changes and the viewer moves, the shadows of the droplets also shift, allowing the work to be experienced as a changing phenomenon rather than a fixed image.
Based on Korean traditional colors, patterns, architecture, and sentiment, Choongmok Yoo reinterprets the beauty of Korean tradition in a modern way. The vertical and horizontal structures in his work are inspired by traditional Korean windows, while the colors recall obangsaek, dancheong, and hanbok. In his recent works, restrained colors, ink spreading into jute, empty space, and the transparency of glass create a more condensed sensibility. Through these elements, his droplets become a lens that connects the past and the present, inviting viewers to reflect on time, memory, and Korean identity.
The artist combines glass droplets with rough jute canvas, expressing the dual nature of glass—transparent yet solid, strong yet fragile. To him, water droplets are not merely a representation of nature. They are a symbol of beginning and end, formation and circulation, and the traces of memory that remain between presence and disappearance. As light changes and the viewer moves, the shadows of the droplets also shift, allowing the work to be experienced as a changing phenomenon rather than a fixed image.
Based on Korean traditional colors, patterns, architecture, and sentiment, Choongmok Yoo reinterprets the beauty of Korean tradition in a modern way. The vertical and horizontal structures in his work are inspired by traditional Korean windows, while the colors recall obangsaek, dancheong, and hanbok. In his recent works, restrained colors, ink spreading into jute, empty space, and the transparency of glass create a more condensed sensibility. Through these elements, his droplets become a lens that connects the past and the present, inviting viewers to reflect on time, memory, and Korean identity.
Choongmok Yoo (b. 1977, Republic of Korea)
MA in Glass, University of Sunderland(UK)
