Date: Saturday, October 19
Address: The Bermuda Project, 830 S Florissant Rd, Ferguson, MO, 63135
Media: Installation, Mixed Media, Sculpture
Studio Features: ADA Accessible, Child-Friendly, Restroom, Refreshments, Work For Sale
Rachel Youn, The Bath, 2018. Preformed pond liner, shishi-odoshi, MDF, water, pond dye, artificial lotus flowers and leaves, polyester resin, enamel. Courtesy the artist. 
Rachel Youn, Two young men fanning senior woman with palm fronds by pool shiatsu massager, 2018. Artificial palm fronds, plastic sushi grass, foam, latex paint. Courtesy the artist. 
Rachel Youn, Poolside, 2019. Chaise lounge chair, Back2Life Continuous Motion Massager, faux banana leaf, SPF, enamel, MDF. Courtesy the artist. 
Rachel Youn, bad boy!, 2018. Laminate, OSB, wood, iron, glass, acrylic, artificial flowers. Courtesy the artist. 
Rachel Youn, Wild wild, 2019. Silicone, towel bar. Courtesy the artist. I venture into the suburbs, rescuing artificial plants, preformed ponds, and electric massagers from suburban limbo. I source materials and objects from home décor stores and hours of online secondhand shopping on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. In the studio, these objects are transformed into kinetic pieces that are often times clumsy, erotic, and absurd, playing with the relationship between manufactured goods and spirituality. Materialism and self-care quell outrage and total numbness, providing a temporary shield against an entropic world.
I grew up living in various cramped apartments haunted by my immigrant father’s pursuit of the American Dream, a farce that could only be purchased in the form of Western paraphernalia and faux-rustic Hobby Lobby décor. Both myself and my work identify with the generic, the replica that earnestly wants to appear like the real thing.
