SEON XVII, 2023
$7,500
Yoona Hur is an artist currently based in New York City. She was born in Seoul but grew up in various cities across Canada and the United States —the desire to deepen her Asian identity and spirituality drove her journey as an artist after working as an architect for several years. Although she spent most of her life in the West, Korean heritage and Eastern philosophy became the root of inspiration for her ceramics and paintings.
Hur preserves and reinterprets this rich cultural lineage: the full breadth of Korean ceramic history, from ancient ritualistic earthenwares to the iconic Moonjars (dalhangari) from Joseon Dynasty that embody both Buddhist and Confucianist concepts. Hur’s paintings are composed of Korean mulberry paper Hanji which was used in traditional houses (hanok) as architectural elements and for literary artifacts. She also takes inspiration from the modern Korean painting movement called Dansaekhwha — becoming one with nature through the act of repetition and being sensitive to materiality and time was the defining philosophy of the works.