Korean artist explores “hysteria” in mixed media paintings

Confronted with something terrifying, the characters in Yeom Ji-Hee’s work must face their fears.

Based in South Korea, artist Yeom Ji-Hee uses a mixed media approach to create works that speak to the condition of hysteria, the loss of self-control due to overwhelming fear. The artist describes the phenomenon as a moment when one “confuses one’s own self” and is fearfully aware of change.

The figures in Ji-Hee’s paintings are thrown into hysteria by an unforeseen event: “What they decide to choose is irrelevant. What matters are the ‘choices’ they have in front of them,” Ji-Hee writes.

She believes one should focus on change rather than fear when confronted with terror: “Hysteria could be the symptom indicating us to bring change through making our own choice.”

The series of paintings titled, “From Hysteria - To The Stage Of Drive” was exhibited in a solo exhibition  at Gallery Art Sagan in Seoul, South Korea in 2013.

Image Credit: Yeom Ji-Hee