Selected as a finalist for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize in 2024, Dahyeon Yoo has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. What she most wants to convey through her work, she says, is “the beauty that emerges when each imperfect strand supports the others and they are tightly woven together, creating a bond that is not easily unraveled. This strong bond.”
Yoo is drawn to materials that naturally change in appearance over time. She explores the relationships that emerge as these materials are woven together. Working with vegetable-tanned leather, she draws on the structure of Bakdawi, a traditional Korean craft made from straw and grasses. A distinctive feature of her practice is the quiet way she carries into her pieces the wisdom and values of everyday life that live on in this tradition. For Yoo, weaving is the very process through which different materials and times meet and slowly form a balance. Through the act of weaving, she expresses her belief that relationships with others and life itself are also processes of building a balance in one’s own way while supporting one another. She brings this understanding to her exhibition, Held in Balance.
In Kyoto, the exhibition centers on Jurumak, a theme that expresses the roots and forms of Yoo’s practice, which began with traditional Korean household objects, as well as the structures and techniques embodied in them. In Tokyo, the exhibition takes Daeun, a Korean word meaning “warm, subtle love” that expresses the connections between people, as its theme. We look forward to presenting Yoo’s first solo exhibition in Japan.
Selected as a finalist for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize in 2024, Dahyeon Yoo has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. What she most wants to convey through her work, she says, is “the beauty that emerges when each imperfect strand supports the others and they are tightly woven together, creating a bond that is not easily unraveled. This strong bond.”
Yoo is drawn to materials that naturally change in appearance over time. She explores the relationships that emerge as these materials are woven together. Working with vegetable-tanned leather, she draws on the structure of Bakdawi, a traditional Korean craft made from straw and grasses. A distinctive feature of her practice is the quiet way she carries into her pieces the wisdom and values of everyday life that live on in this tradition. For Yoo, weaving is the very process through which different materials and times meet and slowly form a balance. Through the act of weaving, she expresses her belief that relationships with others and life itself are also processes of building a balance in one’s own way while supporting one another. She brings this understanding to her exhibition, Held in Balance.
In Kyoto, the exhibition centers on Jurumak, a theme that expresses the roots and forms of Yoo’s practice, which began with traditional Korean household objects, as well as the structures and techniques embodied in them. In Tokyo, the exhibition takes Daeun, a Korean word meaning “warm, subtle love” that expresses the connections between people, as its theme. We look forward to presenting Yoo’s first solo exhibition in Japan.
KYOTO “JURUMAK”
TOKYO “DAEUN”
PROFILE
Born in Korea in 1983, Yoo is an artist whose practice is rooted in leather and traditional Korean straw and grass crafts, exploring the relationships that form as materials are woven together. She began creating leather pieces in 2019 under the name “DEBAROUN,” and in 2024 was named a finalist for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize. In 2025, her work was acquired for the V&A’s permanent collection. As the scope of her practice has expanded, she now works under the artist name “Dahyeon Yoo,” connecting the wisdom of traditional ways of life with contemporary forms.
