본 전시는 해독하려는 조급함을 내려놓을 것을 제안한다. '이것이 무엇인가'보다는 '이것이 내게 어떤 느낌을 주는가'에 귀 기울여보자. 작품에 가까이 다가가 형상과 배경의 경계가 모호해지는 순간들을 따라 시선을 옮겨보자. 그곳에서 각자만의 부드러운 야생과 마주하는 순간, 우리는 경계가 만드는 풍경의 진정한 아름다움을 발견하게 될 것이다.

Boundaries clearly exist. However, these boundaries are not as solid as we think. Like the moment when water meets oil, the dawn hours when dreams and reality overlap, or the wavering heart between homeland and foreign land, all boundaries move and live, constantly redefining themselves.

Gallery Jiwooheon presents the solo exhibition Soft Wild by Yi Youjin, who is based in Munich, Germany, from September 3 to October 18. What the artist discovered after living on the boundary between East and West for over twenty years was not the disconnection created by borders, but new possibilities that bloom only at the boundaries.

Yi Youjin's canvas is not a map. Here, lines do not divide territories but rather connect them. Like Western paint seeping into hanji paper(Korean), in her paintings, East and West do not repel each other but permeate, creating a third language. This is not cultural hybridity, but a unique formative world that only an artist who has accepted the boundary itself as a living ground can reach.

Softness and wildness – two seemingly contradictory words stand at the center of this exhibition. Softness is the dreamlike texture of the screen and a passage that safely guides viewers into the work. Wildness is the primitive vitality writhing beneath that soft surface, the power of untamed intuition. At the point where these two forces meet, Yi Youjin's paintings finally begin to breathe.

The artist lays the canvas on the floor and paints with her entire body. There are no pre-planned sketches. Only the body's memory and emotions of that moment seep into the screen through the brush tip. The forms born this way do not attempt to represent something. Instead, they become traces of archetypes drawn from deep within the subconscious, sensations that we all vaguely feel but cannot capture in words.

The Spirit of the Pond, Roots of Light, Ocean Tree – from the artwork titles alone, we can glimpse the nature of the world where the artist dwells. A pond can become sky, light can take root, and trees grow from the sea. While incomprehensible through logical thinking, these are utterly natural landscapes in the grammar of dreams.

The space of Gallery Jiwooheon, built with earth, wood, and paper, provides a good backdrop for embracing Yi Youjin's works. The philosophy of hanok, which breaks down the boundaries between inside and outside and embraces nature, creates a strange resonance with the artist's painting world where forms and backgrounds permeate each other. Visitors will not simply view paintings in this space, but will experience walking directly into the dreamscape created by the artist.

This exhibition suggests laying down the impatience to decode. Rather than asking what this is, let us listen to what feeling this gives me. Approach the works closely and follow your gaze through moments where the boundaries between form and background become ambiguous. When we encounter our own soft wildness there, we will discover the true beauty of the landscape created by boundaries.

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이유진(b.1980)은 세종대학교에서 한국화과를 중퇴하고 뮌헨미술원(Academy of Fine Arts Munich)에서 독일 모더니즘의 거장 군터 포그(Günther Förg) 교수의 지도 아래 회화 전공 석사과정을 마쳤다. 이후 베를린의 대표 미술 행사인 'Gallery Weekend Berlin'(2021)과 스위스 취리히의 실험미술 중심 공간 'Lemoyne Project'(2022) 등 유럽 주요 도시에서 15회의 개인전을 열며 활발히 활동하고 있다. 국제적 인지도가 높은 독일 국가예술기금(2021)을 비롯해 각종 공공기관의 지원금을 총 7회 받았으며, 이는 작가의 역량이 일찍이 해외에서부터 인정받았음을 증명한다. 또한 독일 바이에른주(2016)와 뮌헨시(2014, 2012)의 스튜디오 지원 프로그램에 선정되기도 했다. 2023년에는 제1회 키아프(KIAF) 하이라이트 작가로 선정되며 아시아 미술계에서의 입지를 더욱 견고히 했다. 현재 독일 뮌헨에 거주하며 한국과 독일을 오가며 활발한 작업 활동을 펼치고 있다.

Yi Youjin (b.1980) left the Korean Painting Department at Sejong University and completed her master's degree in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich under the guidance of German modernism master Professor Günther Förg. Since then, she has been actively working with 15 solo exhibitions in major European cities, including Berlin's representative art event Gallery Weekend Berlin (2021) and Zurich's experimental art space Lemoyne Project (2022). She has received funding from various public institutions a total of 7 times, including the internationally recognized German National Arts Fund (2021), proving that her capabilities were recognized early on abroad. She was also selected for studio support programs by the German state of Bavaria (2016) and the city of Munich (2014, 2012). In 2023, she was selected as the first KIAF Highlight artist, further solidifying her position in the Asian art world. She currently resides in Munich, Germany, and continues her active artistic practice traveling between Korea and Germany.