A man and a woman in pencil sketch walk and enter the screen, and play children’s games. JOUNG Yu-mi’s latest animation Love Games is full of interesting symbolism. The first ever grand prix winner for a Korean animation, Love Games received the honors at the 24th Anima fest Zagreb. The animation displayed JOUNG’s unique world where she combines her own distinctive drawing style, fantasy and reality. Right from her debut work, My Small Doll House (2006), she was already warmly received and kept her place in the center of attention with A Dust Child (2009) which was later invited to Cannes. She won a dozen or so prizes domestically and internationally, walking a unique path of success. KoBiz had a chat with JOUNG to find out what it’s like behind the scenes.

 

 

Pencil drawing is realistic and surrealistic at the same time. Just like how black and white photos give an impression of old landscape, black and white drawings create a unique kind of sentiments, which I find interesting. I first began to employ black and white dense pencil drawings when I was working on My Small Doll House. 

 

First I draw the pictures with a pencil and have them scanned. And then I combine and edit them on the computer, and there is nothing new about it. When you find a part in the middle that needs editing, then I draw again in pencil to correct them. Post production is with a computer but all the drawings are done in pencil.
 
You majored in painting at college but turned to animation after graduation.

I was already interested in animation when I was at high school. I decided to major in painting at college because I believed that the basis of animation is fine art, and animation techniques may be learned later. Although I majored in painting at college, I became more interested in story-telling. That’s why I studied animation directing at Korean Film Academy. The charm of animation is that you can make a film with pictures. As a film genre, animation can express time, too. Within the frame of time, you may put elements like movement of images and sound, which enables you to freely direct different sensual elements, which is a unique advantage of animations. My works are made with very few staffs. I am totally satisfied that I can make a film with pictures, with such a simple work process. 

 

 

Once I am finished with a project, I am always concerned if I can start on another. Because my previous work Dust Child was warmly received, I was even more worried with Love Games, and when I was done, I was not sure how it was going to be received. Fortunately, it received a big prize at an important animation festival, which greatly relieved me. I am also very happy that it now has an opportunity to be shown to a bigger audience.

 

To me, a love relationship is in a way like a children’s play. I thought I could depict many aspects of love if I make a comparison to children’s games, forming the big narrative by episodes of different games. In terms of narrative structure, I wanted to combine the theme of love, and episodic arrangement of different games, and that is how Love Games began.

 

The symbolism behind different games like playing the house, origami, finger plays, cookie eating are very impressive.

I tried to find as many games as possible that a couple can play but there were not that many of them. I picked a few out of them and arranged them in the overall flow of a love relationship. They are the games that can compare to each stages of love and are arranged accordingly.

 

Rather than copying specific personas, I usually draw familiar and universal faces. My works often feature women, and it turns out, they look a lot like me. I don’t have a particular reason for that… I guess it is because I am the easiest for me to draw. The male character in Love Games is inspired by my dad’s image when he was younger.
 

Your works are often a blend of everyday life with some fantasy-like elements.

In each piece, I try to visualize my issues, sentiments and emotional circumstances of the time when I was making it. So rather than a complete fantasy, I prefer a narrative rooted in reality with a surrealistic twist in the middle. Rather than Dali’s pictures that are completely surrealist, I prefer Magritte’s pictures whose basic frame is realistic but with a touch of surrealism. To me, they are more interesting. I believe that this type of work creates an even stranger world than those with complete strangeness.

 

I think it would be a good way to watch them from a psychological perspective. I consider every one of my works symbolic, and the symbolism is internal and psychological. So if you focus on psychological factors it would be easier for you to understand what the symbolism represents. Of course it is also a good way to project your own psychological situation to the film.

 

I am working on a short animation film, set in a public spa, featuring bathing women. In the middle of bathing, they meet their inner selves, and wash them as if they were little children. Also I am thinking of turning all my works including this one and Love Games and My Small Doll House into books. If I get a chance, I want to make diverse picture books, not just from animations but with original drawings.

 

By SONG Soon-jin