Alumna’s deeply personal artwork plays with themes of sexuality, feminism
UCLA Department of Art alumna Hiejin Yoo spoke with the Daily Bruin about her painting, “The First Thing I Do When I Get Home,” featured in Paul Kasmin Gallery's "Seed" exhibition; on view through Aug. 10. Yvonne Force, the curator of the exhibition, said she had not heard of Yoo’s work before searching for pieces to include in “Seed,” but when Half Gallery showed Force her art, she felt that each of Yoo’s pieces was deeply personal.
"Hiejin Yoo felt compelled to wear a bra every day when she grew up in the relatively conservative culture of South Korea.
“The First Thing I Do When I Get Home,” a painting by alumna Hiejin Yoo, explores the feeling of freedom she experiences when she goes through the ritual of removing her bra every day, she said. (Courtesy of HieJin Yoo) Now living in the United States, she notices women feel more freedom to decide whether they wear a bra or not.
The conversation surrounding bras played a part in inspiring the UCLA alumna to paint a piece entitled “The First Thing I Do When I Get Home.” It is currently being displayed in the “Seed” exhibition in New York’s Paul Kasmin Gallery. The gallery, which runs until Aug. 10, features the artwork of Yoo along with pieces by 28 other female artists, each displaying varied themes of womanhood and nature. For “The First Thing I Do When I Get Home,” Yoo said she painted a personal feeling that she has experienced throughout her lifetime – the comfort of taking off her bra after a long day.
“Because I’m from South Korea, we need to wear a bra all the time, whereas in America, I see a lot of women who, if they don’t want to wear a bra, they don’t have to,” she said. “The first thing I want to do when I get home every day is take off the bra.”
Yoo used a combination of Flashe, a vinyl-based paint, and oil paint to create the image of a bra draped across a branch, while a woman standing behind the objects is portrayed from the neck down. The intimate nature of her work is a quality Anabel Juarez said she admires in Yoo’s art. Juarez, a UCLA alumna who met Yoo in college, said the personal scenes of Yoo’s own life placed in the art are relatable because the figures’ faces are often cropped, aiding viewers in visualizing themselves in the scene instead of a predetermined face.
“A lot of the paintings are about her own life, and as a female, it’s relevant to tell your story and share with other people and make it be relevant,” Juarez said. “It encourages other people to speak up and tell their story.”
The blue color of the body shown in the painting symbolizes the feelings she captured in her diary entry that inspired the piece.” After a stressful day, she said arriving home is a time to relax, or cool down. Removing her bra is the first step to her relaxation, thus her body is represented with a cool, calming blue.
The branch incorporated in Yoo’s art adds another layer of meaning to the piece. She said branches are part of nature, but wearing a bra is not part of the natural, comfortable human form. She said the blue figure is important to the piece, but the bra and branch hold similar value in her art."— Eli Countryman, Jul. 8, 2018
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.
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