Girl Dinner: Emerging Artists Group Exhibition

My work talks about the connections, the roots that form in nature.  Very much linked to the origin, to the naturalness and rawness of the materials. In that line, the girls' dinners have many interesting connotations. Since prehistoric times women have come together to support each other. Also interesting is the concept of covens, a kind of girl's dinner in a way. A gathering of strong women with united interests and goals. Bringing together feminine energy is a natural and powerful thing.

When choosing pieces for Girl Dinner, I found myself drawn to pieces that were made from disparate materials woven together. Using collected, gleaned, gifted, and found materials is how I attempt a spectacle. Repurposed and deadstock items mingle with staples like cotton to form a personal narrative that reflects the experience of making and challenges the imperfect conception of fine art.

In my artistic exploration, I uncover the intricate layers of hair care, the hair industry’s complexities, and the essence of self-nurturing. This journey aligns with the core of the "Girl Dinner" theme, echoing its defiance against societal norms and encouragement of embracing unconventional living. Urging contemplation on the challenge against conventional beauty standards, and navigating an industry marked by historical biases.

Hyun Young Yang's work is an extension of how she sees her life—and as such, all lives. It questions viewers about how they see their lives and how they are going to unfold. Such questions, that is, self-reflection, are induced through interaction with the work by making viewers encounter the instability of life through various materials and methods. For this, she expresses psychological emotional states—the anxiety, doubt, frustration and confusion felt by human beings—with visual strategies such as distortion and reflection.

In recent years, there’s been this movement to reclaim, define, and understand girlhood, as something special, unique, and important. Whether you see it as the uncovering of silly (as in out of the norm from our lens of normal) shared experiences or as a small act of rebellion to exist outside of the purview of men, girl-coded experiences bring people together to appreciate what girls might do when no one’s watching. “Girl Dinner” is honest. It is taking the prerogative we have as women to share our feelings without the same pressures men might feel and using it for good. And maybe that’s the difference we feel, but can’t quite put our finger on, between something being labeled girly, or womanly, or manly – a spectrum of how free you are to shamelessly express your needs and joy and misery.