We have already introduced one artist of the Baik Artist Residency, Jagath Weerasinghe. Now, we are excited to introduce you to another, Yong Soon Min! Keep your eyes peeled for a third Artist Spotlight blog post about the third Baik artist, Tintin Wulia, in the upcoming days.
Davidson College is lucky to welcome Yong Soon Min as an artist in residence. Min, Wulia, and Weerasinghe will occupy the Van Every/ Smith Gallery with their exhibitions until the end of October. Min arrived last week and will stay until the end of October working on an exhibition for the Davidson community to view. This is not an ordinary exhibition. The artists have given Davidson artists and the rest of the community a unique experience as we are able to visit the gallery from now until the artists have “finished” with their work. This is an exhibition that demands our attention. The curtain is pulled back and we have the privilege of watching all three artists work and create.
Yong Soon Min is originally from a village near Seoul, South Korea, but moved to the United States with her brother and mother to join her father who was already living in California. Min calls herself a “Cold War baby,” having lived through the Cold War in Korea and America. She works with photography, painting, and mixed media instillations to confront and grapple with themes of identity, politics, and immigration. Her art represents ideas of location, relocation and travel as these are matters that move her. For instance, one of her pieces explores familial ties and navigates a woman’s role in the family. In an interview, Min explained, “I relied on stories of my mother and other female members of the family and created a new text, which was in some ways an amalgamation of their stories, to talk about Korean women in general and their relationship in this sort of social, cultural, political context. The specific components in this show are the dress and four panels.”
This is not Min’s first time in an academic institution by any means, as she has traveled the world to teach and create. She has also had countless solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries all over the world such as the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, the Smith College Museum, the LACMA, the Seoul Museum of Art, and the Commonwealth and Council Gallery. These are just a few of the institutions which have exhibited her work. We are honored and lucky to have Yong Soon Min here with us, not only to observe her work but to witness and be a part of her artistic process.
