mutemuse
INTERVIEW

How to turn a stereotype into charisma.Yoowan Yang, Glass Blower

She once rebutted to a renowned artist claiming the importance of physical strength in pursuing glass art by saying “femininity is my strength.” She’s also extraordinary in that she compares her tools to organs. Yoowan Yan, more than anything, is a phenomenal artist.





Q. I came across your name quite frequently at galleries and boutiques. I’ve been following your work for a long time, thinking that you were someone only I knew. But it turns out you have quite the following. [laughs]
A. Thank you. I enjoy meeting people so I communicate with my followers quite frequently via social media. Apart from showcasing and selling my work, I hold classes for fellow artists and/or the general public as well.

Q. ‘Mowani’ is the name of your brand. What’s the meaning behind it?
A. When I was studying abroad, people used to call me ‘Wani’ instead of Yoowan. I added ‘Mo,’ meaning “shape” in hanja(classical Chinese characters), in front to show people that I work on a variety of projects in various ‘shapes.’ People think the name ‘Mowani’ derives from Latin, but it really isn’t all that fancy. [laughs]

Q. You studied industrial design at college. What made you want to become a glass artist?
A. I used to be interested in light fixtures. I actually chose industrial design so I could learn about headlight design on cars. It wasn’t until my senior exhibition that I came across the art of glassblowing. It was interesting in a completely different way. While industrial design won’t allow even the slightest measurement error, glass art would interpret these errors as the artist’s intentions. The way accidental touches become art made me feel like I was the sole protagonist in the story. So I switched my major and spent an extra year at college.

Q. Some say ‘irregularity’ is what sets your work apart. The way some of your pieces are slightly crumpled makes people to want to use them more often. It was also fascinating to see how you emphasized air bubbles, something that other artists would just get rid of.
A. Some people say that you become a patriot when you go to another country. I felt patriotic when I was studying abroad. I found things that captured the quintessential Korean aesthetic the most beautiful. I saw a Korean moon jar at the British Museum once, and the way it was slightly contorted looked really beautiful. I realized the reason why people don’t get sick of these moon jars was in their ‘irregularities.’ From that experience, I started putting atypical elements into my work.





Q. The majority of your work is not colored. Is there a specific reason?
A. I believe the biggest appeal of glass as a material is its lucency. Instead of using colors, I add different materials such as pebbles and wood onto the pieces, utilizing my background in industrial design. I like how the elements harmonize with each other while being faithful to their intrinsic beauty. Even when I add color, I don’t use pigments and stained glass that are sold in the market. I melt materials like gold, silver, and copper to create my own colors instead.

Q. You make all sorts of products from cups, plates, vases to lamps and baby mobiles. Is practicality a high priority for you?
A. I don’t think the term exists, but ‘practical art’ is how I define my work since every piece I make can be used differently based on the user’s likings. Some might use my vase as a diffuser bottle, and others would use it as objet d'art. Apart from actual practicality of each piece, I find such a phenomenon very important.

Q. One of Mutemuse’s primary brand identities is based on artwork collaboration. The artwork strap, created through collaborations with artists, is a good example. It can have different meanings to different people. Some might put the strap on their bags and use it on a daily basis simply because they like the pattern on it, and others would get it autographed, because they consider it an actual artwork.
A. You’re right. Everyday items like handbags can be seen as art to some people. For example, whoever designed this[picking up Mutemuse’s ‘Amuse Bag’] probably made it with his/her own personal belief. When a carefully designed product goes through a collaboration with an artist, its value increases. When that substantial value is recognized by a customer, the product turns into an art piece. We just don’t recognize its value since we carry it around every day.

Q. Ever since crafted goods have been replaced and taken over by manufactured goods in our daily lives, crafted products have been viewed more as pieces of art, for example in display at an exhibition.
A. An art collector who purchased my work invited me to his house in London once. His house was basically an art gallery. Everything, from the painting on the wall to plates on the table, was made by some artist. It was quite memorable to see someone actually using the collected pieces. Since then, I started using the pieces I made in my everyday life. Especially because the more often you use glass products, the cleaner they stay. So I tell people who purchase my work to use the pieces as often as possible.





Q. You’ve been adhering to the traditional blowing method in which you shape the glass by blowing air into molten glass with your mouth, whereas modern craftsmanship is inevitably influenced by both handwork and machines.
A. There’s really no room for machinery in the blowing process. Machines are surely important but at the end of the day, they are merely tools that help me, a person. That’s why I like comparing machines to organs. I would compare a smelting furnace to the heart, and glory holes, a high powered furnace that reheats hardened glass, to the lungs. I also call an annealer, a ‘furnace’ used for slowly cooling down pieces, the uterus.

Q. A furnace weighs over a ton and needs to be kept at a temperature of 1,250℃ all year round. It really sounds like a challenging job. Isn’t it physically demanding for you?
A. I would be lying if I said ‘no.’ To be perfectly honest, I feel like I’m getting closer to hitting my limits as I get older. Not to mention how difficult it is to endure extreme heat in the middle of the summer. I’m sure whoever can last the longest in hellfire would be a glassblower. [laughs]

Q. It was really funny how you wrote ‘Thor Yang’ as your nickname on Instagram. You’ve also posted a photo of yourself hard at work with the caption, “Don’t fall in love with me. My masculinity is literally exploding right now.” [laughter] The way you lift molten glass blob with an iron rod really did remind me of Thor.
A. I know so many male glassblowers who are rather bursting with femininity. In gender-dominated fields like the glassblowing industry, androgynous qualities are often considered extraordinary. I once went to a glass show in the Czech Republic and read a comment that a renowned artist had left there. “You need to build up strength first if you want to pursue glass art,” it read. He might have just referred to physical strength but I interpreted it as ‘one’s personal traits.’ Working as a glass artist, I feel like I possess something male glass artists don’t have: femininity. Thanks to that, I stood out from the crowd on a relatively early stage.

Q. I once visited Murano, an island in Italy known for glass art, and saw that most of the artists there were men. Could it be because the job is so physically challenging?
A. Circumstances in Korea are not that much different. There are about 10 artists who specialize in glassblowing and I’m the only female artist who runs her own studio. Since glassblowing is so physically demanding, not a lot of women challenge themselves to get into the field. But if you think about it, physical issues can be solved easily if you just change your mind. I usually ask male artists for help when something gets beyond my physical capacity. But of course, I always put the final touches myself. Sometimes this process of collaboration leads to a result even better. Besides, it’s becoming more and more meaningless to discuss gender and work these days. Especially at a time like this, we women should adopt the mantra of ‘Girls Go Everywhere.’
Q. Let’s apply the slogan ‘Girls Go Everywhere’ to yourself. If you could ‘go everywhere,’ where would you like to go?
A. I would like to create an environment where artists working with different mediums can collaborate together. Artists who work with metals, wood, ceramics, and food have actually visited my studio to learn about glass art. It would be lovely to have them share their skills and inspire each other. We’ll end up with wonderful works of art. My studio, ‘Mowani Glass Studio’ could become ‘Mowani Studio,’ a sort of a residency beyond a simple glass studio.






Text / Bora Kang
Photographer / Siyoung Song