I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and am active in Seoul.
MAGAZINE · INTERVIEW
Sundo Yoon
Sundo Yoon is a South Korean designer and artist based in Seoul, whose practice explores the intersection of furniture, sculpture, and abstraction. Inspired by the irregular forms found in both nature and digital environments, he creates collectible works that blur the boundary between functional objects and sculptural compositions, balancing expressive form with architectural restraint.
Working primarily with aluminum, Yoon combines metal fabrication techniques with an intuitive, process-driven approach that begins with freehand sketches and experimental compositions. Characterized by layered textures, bold silhouettes, and recurring geometric forms, his work transforms industrial materials into tactile objects distinguished by their sculptural presence and quiet material expression.
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Interview
Where were you born and where are you from?
What is your first memory connected to the art world?
The first memory was a painting by a close artist, and it was a painting that seemed to capture the colors and forms of nature, and it was intense for me.
Have you always worked in the art/design field?
Yes, I wanted to continue making my work.
What led you to design creation?
I have been interested in making something since I was young, and due to the influence of the teacher I met for the first time, I dreamed of creating designs. I started off as if I were playing around using various tools on a small metal plate.
How would you describe your creative process and its influences?
We start by collecting unstructured pieces in various ways. We repeat the process of combining them into furniture so that they can function, and figuring out what texture to draw.
Could you describe a typical day of your work?
Start with a small sketch. We value this process because we often start working on drawings that start like graffiti, and sketches have no limits. After that, we repeat working on multiple neck-ups in small sizes.
Why did you choose the specific materials you work with?
I mainly deal with aluminum. I’m making furniture, but I’m heavily influenced by flat work, and I work like I’m painting on canvas, so I chose aluminum with soft properties among metals.
What are the technical particularities of your creations?
There are metal laser cutting, welding, and texture work using a grinder.
What advice could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works?
You have to be sincere and not lose your color.
If your works had to belong to a design movement, how would you define it?
My work has the monotone and form of Brutalism, but I don’t think it belongs to Brutalism. I think the work sets the viewer up for something like a design movement.
What designers and artists have influenced you?
Influenced by artists like Rick Owens, Donald Judd, and Isamu Noguchi.
What contemporary designers do you appreciate?
Isamu Noguchi. I want to learn by watching what he left behind repeatedly.
What contemporary artists, in any kind of art, have you been inspired by?
Oscar Niemeyer, Seo-bo Park.
If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be?
Recurrent form.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Being happy through making work is the most important thing.
“Being happy through making work is the most important thing.”
The Questionnaire
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Stable life
What is your greatest fear?
Becoming insincere
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Being shaken by small things
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
A false mind
Which living person do you most admire?
A person who never gives up and works constantly
What is your greatest extravagance?
Agonizing over little things without doing them
What is your current state of mind?
Stable
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
–
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Vulnerability
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Toughness
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Repeat. Self-esteem
Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to draw blueprints
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
A feeling of uneasiness
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Knowing the importance of family and friends
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Stone
Where would you most like to live?
A city close to nature
What is your most treasured possession?
A perfume that reminds me of a certain memory
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
An endless sense of anxiety
What is your favorite occupation?
Photographer
What is your most marked characteristic?
Dark eyebrows
What do you most value in your friends?
Comfort
Who are your favorite writers?
Frank Herbert
Who is your hero of fiction?
Paul Atreides of ‘Dune’
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Be absent from historical figures
Who are your heroes in real life?
Family
What are your favorite names?
Sun (goodness in Korean)
What is it that you most dislike?
Rude words and actions
What is your greatest regret?
Ignoring a small idea
How would you like to die?
I want to die after doing everything I want to do
What is your motto?
Don’t deceive yourself
“Sketches have no limits.”
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