4 Profile


KYS: As soon as I returned, I started a private art academy in order to gain financial independence. In 1972, I began as a printmaking instructor at Hongik University’s Fine Arts Department and the Department of Crafts. Afterwards, in 1973, I continued my teaching career as an Associate Professor at Cheongju Women’s University of Education and as an Assistant Professor at Sangmyung Women’s University in 1980. I taught basic sculptural techniques, visual and sensory training for viewing objects, and basic training in handling materials.


Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One (1991), onyx, 14.96 x 22.83 x 16.93 inches


layer of the gourds sent from Korea was broken down in order to create a three-dimensional shape. I ended up pursuing all these


mediums throughout my career, expanding my practice over the years, experimenting constantly. I started off creating works by adding fabric on top of canvas for two-dimensional works in Korea during the 1970s, and for the sculpture that I submitted for the 12th São Paulo Biennial, I coated everyday objects with stamping ink, stamping them on traditional Korean paper stuck on to a wooden box. Back then, I worked with everyday objects coated in stamping or painting ink, subsequently stamping those objects. I would also rust nails by scattering them on traditional Korean paper and cotton, spraying salt water, and stamping everyday objects onto clay tablets and scooping the shapes with gypsum or cement, etc. I also obtained logs and even used bark in the formation of the sculpture to keep it in its most natural form. I am still following that approach today. With the arrival of Covid in 2019,


many activities became impossible and I had a hard time obtaining materials. I had to use reclaimed wooden pillars found from building repairs, or discarded material. Sculptures were made by connecting and painting these wooden pillars. However, some of my works were fragile, due to the degradation of the material, and I had to redo, or


reinforce. the sculptures with rocks and onyx to make them stronger. I want the impact of these works to last as long as possible.


AAN: Were you also in contact with diaspora artists, or did you find other ways to stay in touch with your culture? KYS: I stayed in the same apartment as other international students, alumni from my undergraduate college, and professors. I met many other Korean students, expatriates from Korean companies, and embassy employees during holidays and exhibitions. I also received my baptism, as well as confirmation, at the Korean Church in Paris and travelled with my priest, godmother, and friends. At that time, I felt I was in Paris for the long term with the idea to settle there. I had no plans or intention to go back to Korea. However, circumstances changed and I returned to Seoul after being informed that my mother was in a critical condition. I immediately rushed back to Korea, leaving everything that I had worked on behind in my Paris apartment. I initially wanted to take my lithographs with me, but I did not have much time to think about anything. It was urgent that I travelled back immediately since the only family I had in South Korea were my mother and brother.


AAN: On your return to Korea, was there a subsequent opportunity to go back to Paris? KYS: Tere was a possibility around 1970, when George Dayez, professor of lithography, sent me a letter encouraging me to be part of a lithography group in Paris. At that time, it was not easy for me to go back. However, I always cherished the memory of my stay in Paris. In 1982, I was finally able to go back for the first time in 13 years for the Paris exhibition of the Korean Sculptress Association. In December of 1983, but I ended up moving, not to Paris, but to Buenos Aires, Argentina.


AAN: What impact did your time in Paris have on your practice? KYS: Paris gave me a spirit of original creation – I had to make work that only I could make. While studying abroad, I realised that finding the value of art within the works I had completed was the meaning of original creation. With the assurance of my capabilities and the firm belief that determination knows no limitations, I have cultivated an unwavering resolve, knowing that I can thrive in any circumstances, at any time, and with any resources available.


Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One (1984), wood, 57.09 x 14.96 x 13.78 inches


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AAN: Back in Korea, you also pursued a teaching career. What did you teach and what qualities did you encourage in your students?


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AAN: Did you try to encourage your students to follow what you were encouraged to do in Paris – to be original? KYS: My method of teaching was to teach diligently and to the best of my ability. In order to produce an original work, you have to think hard and be persistent. Even if the work of students who try their best does not meet the standards of others, it will continue to develop as long as they are given guidance and encouragement.


AAN: Beyond teaching, you also created the Korean Sculptress Association. Could you explain the thought process behind this decision? What motivated you and is it still active today? KYS: Yes, it is still active. It was founded in 1974 and has been holding member exhibitions every year for the past 50 years. At a casual gathering with some of my students, I suggested that we create a women’s sculpture group, hold exhibitions together, and work more efficiently. Afterwards, we invited Professor Kim Chung Sook (1916-1991) and Professor Yoon Young Ja (1924-2016) to join the group. We respectively appointed them as President and Vice- President, and thus founded the Korean Sculptress Association. Te motivation behind creating the association was to address the lack of recognition and activity for female artists in Korea. Te absence of women artists was even more apparent in the field of sculpture.


AAN: Was your primary medium always wood? KYS: No. Upon my return to Korea, I was not in an environment that allowed me to practice wood carving. At that time, it was difficult to source wood for wood carving and there was not even any proper work spaces available.


AAN: Were you, however, determined to continue working in various media back in Korea, as you had done during your stay in Paris? KYS: Back in Korea, I was not able to continue with lithography. Instead, I worked with collage and two- dimensional mediums by emulating the process of woodblock prints and, in the 1970s, engravings. With this process, ink is applied to the canvas by stamping or pressing with a roller, and then I would collage on top. In the case of sculpture, I started by stacking together three-dimensional pieces of plywood and six-sided Douglas fir, creating various sizes. Tis early experimentation led to my future practice of carving logs. As such, I equally practiced painting and sculpture in Korea. However, by 1984, after discovering some really good wood in Argentina, I devoted myself to wood and onyx carving until 1997. It is only later that I began working again with painting and sculpture.


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AAN: Does one discipline feed the other, or do you view them as separate entities? KYS: In the past, while producing my work, I did think of the different mediums as separate projects. As I now look back on these works, I think they had an impact on each other: I have always made my three-dimensional and two- dimensional works in tandem. In 1970, I would add paper on sculptures while adapting lithography methods, and from 2000 onwards, I started adding triangular comb patterns or lightning patterns in primary colours on wooden pieces. Recently, I have been painting on wooden sculptures – like painting on a canvas – and colouring wooden sculptures by casting them in bronze or aluminium. As for paintings, I would even paint with brushes and print like lithographs.


AAN: When did you become a full-time artist? KYS: I am not sure about the timeline of becoming a full-time artist. Unless you are a so-called famous artist, you have to do something to make a living and get materials for work. Since coming back to live in Korea, art has been my top priority. Maybe this tendency began in college when I was a student, living in the studio space, every day for four years, even during breaks. Professor Kim Kyung Seung (1915-1992) used to joke that if Hongik University opened up a museum, Kim Yun Shin’s work clothes should be displayed. I have been fortunate enough to always have a lot of help to continue my work, even today.


AAN: In the 1970s, Dansaekhwa attracted many artists. Were you tempted to be part of it, or join any other group? Or did you prefer an independent approach, exploring and experimenting on your own? KYS: In the 1970s, it was difficult to hold individual exhibitions, so we had no choice but to exhibit as a group. However, I did not want to choose and associate with any collectives or trends. I often produced my work through independent exploration and experimentation. I just did what I wanted to do, in my own style, regardless of whether anyone liked it or not. In Argentina, for example, I was able to produce work for forty years because I developed a self-sufficient practice that suited me well.


AAN: You moved to Argentina in 1984. Why did you go there? KYS: Yes, I moved to Argentina 44 years ago. Prior to that, in the late 1970s/early 1980s, the circumstances in Korea were challenging: in 1979, upon the opening of my solo exhibition, the assassination of president Park Chung-hee took place and was followed by the Gwangju Democratisation Movement and Gwangju Uprising (May 1980), which also affected the universities in Seoul. Tere was a huge disturbance during this period. I was always on the students’ side and was scared they were going to get hurt. In the meantime, North Korea was continuously threatening the South. As I had gone through a hard time during the Korean War, I was traumatised by these events. At the time, I was a professor in Korea, which made me think that I could work easily, but actually, there were many restrictions that were extremely frustrating. It was not easy as a female professor to be criticised for smoking cigarettes, wearing a mini-skirt, or being late for class,


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Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One 2015-23 (2015), Algarrobo wood, 17.72 x 15.75 x 16.54 inches


Since coming back to live in Korea, art has become my top priority


as I was always working on my art until early in the morning. In 1982, my niece migrated to


Argentina with her children and I visited them the following year in December. By that time, Raul Alfonsin had been elected President of Argentina and was moving away from military administration towards democracy. On my end, I was longing to experience that freedom as well. My stay started off as a summer vacation trip, but I changed my mind and decided to stay in Argentina for three years. After finding a studio, I was able to open an invitational exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Buenos Aires with the help from the Korean Embassy there. I continued with an invitational exhibition in Olavarria and an exhibition at Gallery Soudan. In 1987, I went back to Korea to open a solo exhibition at Jean Gallery in early 1988. After the exhibition, I submitted a letter of resignation to Sang Myung University before going back to Argentina. It was a new beginning: I gained citizenship and started creating artwork while travelling between Argentina and Mexico over the next three years.


AAN: Looking at the time before 1984, could it overall be considered as a time of experimentation, with everything falling into place once you arrived in Buenos Aires? KYS: Yes, I agree. Until 1960, before I started studying abroad, I worked with steel, and from 1970 to 1977, I was stacking hexahedron wood logs of various sizes and cutting the wood logs with a chisel. Up to this point, I could say my work was experimental. In 1978, as I came in contact with pine and acacia trees with their bark in place, my style of


Add Two Add, One Divide Two Divide One, 2001-689 (2001), signature carved in wood, Algarrobo wood, 22.83 x 30.31 x 12.99 inches


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