Artist
Jiyeon Ryu
Jiyeon Ryu (류지연) is an interdisciplinary artist who is in London and educated in South Korea and Sweden. She focuses in exploring the existential meaning of selfhood, delving into how we infuse significance into our existence. Ryu wants to highlight the resilience of human beings through the chaos and conflicted times. With a scientific background shaping her analytical perspective, Ryu employs moving images to convey perceptions, sculptures to articulate symbols, and paintings to manifest aesthetic sensibilities. This convergence of mediums engages audiences on multiple levels, offering diverse entry points into exploring the profound and multifaceted nature of human meaning and expression.
Q1. What inspires the artist?
Jiyeon is inspired by what she wants to think about our minds and bodies and contemporary issues through her tools: dream, memory, and myth. She sees 14th-16th century European arts, Greek sculpture, and Indian miniature paintings along with contemporary arts. Although we are on different timelines, they are still present with us. Wherever we are, we see the trace of our history.
Her inspirations come from many sources: the ancient Greeks, the Italian Renaissance masters, the Dutch masters, iconography, mythology, psychology, and philosophy. But most of all, her own subconscious and intuition, which have proven many times to have a logic and curious independence of its own.
Q2. What does being a female artist mean?
Jiyeon believes that being a female artist means recognising that we are all someone’s daughters and mothers, and she reflected this perspective in her work.
Q4. Who are the female artist role models, and why?
Q3. How does Korean culture influence artist's art?
Jiyeun reflects on her upbringing in the 1980s in Korea. Significant changes have happened in lifestyle over the last couple of decades. Jiyoeon remembers her mother staying home, cooking for them, sharing food with friends and siblings, and running around the neighbourhood with her younger brother. These precious childhood memories have influenced her art.
Jiyeon admires Alice Neel and Chantal Joffe for their ability to convey the soul of the sitters in their portraits.
Q5. What projects are currently being worked on?
Jiyeon is currently exploring the lives of leprosy patients in South Korea in her recent work at RCA. Based on their stories and imaginations, she delivers memories and minds, questioning how lives overlap through shared emotions across different timelines and spaces. She depicts these battles through symbolic figures called 'Flower people,' transforming survivors into mythological figures entwined with resurgent nature.
Baby Girl, Lion and a Monster, 2023
Oil on canvas , 100 x 100 x 4 cm
This painting captures the essence of human existence through three compelling figures. The man symbolises our pursuit of knowledge and purpose, reflecting the quest for meaning. The lion represents our social nature, illustrating the intricate relationships we form. The monster embodies our primal instincts and passions, highlighting our untamed side. Together, these elements create a profound narrative that presents the complexity, contradiction and beauty of a human life.