Rachel Youn

Working across sculpture and installation, Korean-American artist Rachel Youn's (b. 1994) practice involves repurposing discarded massagers and artificial plants into kinetic sculptures of wild, erotic movement. Intended to simulate human touch, these once-desired yet ultimately discarded machines are acquired through online second-hand shopping, their purpose unfulfilled as they are handed off to strangers. By “rescuing” these outdated devices and imbuing them with movement, Youn creates anthropomorphic forms that evoke human emotion while remaining inherently artificial. Her work, shaped by her immigrant father’s pursuit of the American dream, explores themes of aspiration, rejection, and the tension between authenticity and imitation. Rachel Youn graduated with a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis in 2017 and received an MFA from Yale University in 2024. Recent solo exhibitions include Pleasure Circuit (Soy Capitán, 2024), Well Adjusted (Night Gallery, 2023), and No Pain No Gain (Sargent’s Daughters, 2022). She has participated in group exhibitions at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, SOMArts, Aranya Art Center, YveYANG Gallery, the Contemporary Arts Center, and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and is a recipient of the Vermont Studio Center Fellowship and the 2020 Great Rivers Biennial Award.