Like a steady river flowing silently in the moonlight, YoungHee Woo’s mysterious oil paintings evoke contemplation and appreciation of the natural and the surreal. Her dreamlike artistic creations stem from her own contemplative eye and philosophical musings on life and death. Painting with deep hues and converging the spiritual and human worlds allows Ms. Woo to explore melancholic ideals while maintaining an appreciation of life. She views life and death not as clashing forces but as interwoven realities where one serves as an extension of the other. Ms. Woo strives to convey that not all that exists will last, and her sibylline art inspires viewers to appreciate life’s nobility and the eventual finality of all things.
Ms. Woo’s art tells stories based on her philosophical senses, unconstrained painting, and deliberate color selection. Women often appear in her paintings as absolute beings who have magical powers, as do elements of the natural world that serve as metaphors for sorrow and loneliness. Her focus on emotions, imagination, and dreams help her bridge gaps between reality, ideals, and vanity in an arresting fashion.
YOUNGHEE WOO ON
My work is based on the philosophical sense of life and death. It is the story of generation and extinction, for one exists as an extension of the other. During the life time, we engage in organic relationships with the creations of nature. I empathize with them, and project my ego into them. The forms of evolution and atrophy appear in my work, and so do the mysterious beings of unknown. The viewers of my paintings will read internal stories as they appreciate them. I hope they can appreciate the nobility of life, live fiercely and passionately, face the afterlife with grandness rather than fear, and even enjoy the futility of disappearing things.
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