Hoseok Youn

Bio

Hoseok Youn is a South Korean glass artist and educator specializing in glassblowing. He was born in Seoul, Korea and currently based in the United States. Youn holds his Bachelor of Fine Art degree in glass and ceramic major from Namseoul University, Cheon Ahn, Korea. After completing his undergraduate school, Hoseok traveled to Japan for International Glass competition in Niijima Island and was awarded 1st place and got opportunity to study at Pilchuck Glass school in 2018. In 2021, Hoseok earned a Master of Fine Art in glass from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois, USA. Hoseok is currently a glassblowing instructor at Belger Art Center, Kansas City, Missouri. He has worked at Toledo Museum of Art as a studio artist and has taught at Bowling Green State University as an adjunct professor in 2022.

Youn’s work has received various scholarships and awards including Corning Museum of Glass, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, Penland School of Art, Pilchuck Glass School, and Glass Art Society. His work has been exhibited broadly and internationally in Illinois, Missouri, Texas, California, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Italy, and China.

artist Statement

I am interested in toys. I was a single child for long time so I spent the most of my childhood playing with toys, games, and watching science fiction movies. Even as an adult, toys are a big collectible for me and they provide me endless artistic inspiration. In everyday life, toys are usually just playful things. However, toys actually mean and speak of many things. It is closely related to society, history, tradition, culture, religion, art, industry, science, technology, and any kinds of trend of the time. Also, a toy is a unique object that allows any fantasies to exist in reality almost as a real in a three dimensional model. Therefore, toys are more than just toys and make me rethink about the meaning and value of them. To me, glass is another special toy and also a fascinating material for making toys. The Venetian traditional glassware is one of the most brilliant designs that I can transform into anything. Particularly, the goblets made with delicate details and decorations are my favorite shapes with full of playfulness. As a glass artist playing with the traditional techniques, the historical designs, skills, and tools are the important research areas for finding ideas. I disassemble the stemware and traditional glass forms as much as possible and turn them into individual components, and the parts are reconstructed to create my own toys. My works are the figurative form of fantasy characters looking like heroes or villains; as known as BEAST, and their crystal-clear appearance exudes noble and luxurious feelings at the same time as humorous and surrealistic. The BEASTs represent the dystopia and speak of the blind people living in fantasy and competing for success and wealth in contemporary society.