Dasom Yun | The Vibrant Feline Fantasy 充满活力的猫科动物幻想
About the Artist
关于艺术家
Dasom Yun is a freelance illustrator based in Seoul, Korea. She attended the Korea Animation High School and got her degree in Communication Design from Samsung’s Art & Design Institute. Using Abode Illustrator, her vector illustrations take inspiration from an eclectic mix of areas which include childhood objects such as Lego and Playmobile as well as Hong Kong Cinema, classic cartoons, and anthropomorphic creatures.
Dasom Yun 是一位居住在韩国首尔的自由插画师。她毕业于韩国动画高中，并获得了三星艺术设计学院的传播设计学位。通用使用Abode Illustrator软件，她创造了一系列的矢量插图，她的作品不拘一格，灵感来自各种混合的领域，包括乐高和百乐宝等童年物品，以及香港电影、经典卡通和拟人化生物。
The Crimson Cat, which frequently appears throughout many of her works, is the most beloved creation of the artist and often the subject of her works. In a sense, one can say that the Crimson Cat is the artist’s self-realization that is placed into the artwork.
Crimson Cat（绯红猫）经常出现在她的许多作品中，这是她最爱的创作主题。 某种意义上说，Crimson Cat（绯红猫）作为作者的一部分自我体现被置于她的作品之中。
When first starting out as an artist, Dasom envisioned each creation as something that can be taken apart and put together like a toy. Each part of the creature's anatomy was carefully designed with a great balance of color and unique simplicity that defines her artistic style. Beyond illustration, the artist has crossed into other fields such as books, animation, game design, and product design. She has created works for musicians such as the band Karkosa and Chinese-American rapper Awkwafina while publishing children’s books, web tunes, and more.
刚开始艺术创作的时候，Dasom将每件作品都想象为可以像玩具一样拆开和组装的东西。解剖结构的每个部分都经过精心设计，色彩和独特的简洁性完美平衡，这些特质定义了她的艺术风格。除了插画，她还涉足其他领域，如书籍、动画、游戏设计和产品设计。她曾为 Karkosa 乐队和美籍华裔rapper Awkwafina 等音乐家创作作品，同时还出版了儿童书籍、网络漫画等。
Dasom did not have a particular defining influence that stood out, but the collective experiences she had growing up may have influenced many of her artistic choices. She associates her affinity to anthropomorphic animals and child-like style with memories of seeing fairy tales such as Maisy and Peter Rabbit or animations like Wallace and Gromit, Pat & Mat as well as Pingu. She states:
Dasom的经历中没有受到特别突出的影响，但在她的成长过程中，集体生活的这段经历可能影响了她的许多艺术选择。她将自己对拟人化动物和儿童风格的亲和力与小时候看过的童话故事（如小鼠波波和彼得兔）或动画（如 Wallace 和 Gromit、Pat & Mat 以及 Pingu）的记忆联系起来。她说：
“When I was very young I enjoyed a lot of clay animations… and I think they have had a lot of influence on my taste. In the animations, the main characters are animals and the colors are vivid and harmonious. Maybe Crimson Cat was created under their influence. In Peter Rabbit I loved seeing animals wearing clothes and using small things that humans discarded as furniture. So I wanted to express that same feeling in my work.”
“在我很小的时候，我喜欢很多粘土动画……我认为它们对我的艺术品味产生了很大的影响。在动画中，主要人物是动物，色彩生动和谐。也许Crimson Cat（绯红猫）是在它们的影响下创造的。彼得兔的动画里，我喜欢看到动物穿着衣服，使用人类丢弃的小东西作为家具。所以我也想在我的作品中表达同样的感觉。”
The Crimson Cat
绯红猫
The first time the artist created the anthropomorphic feline, Crimson Cat, was when she was attending a weekly illustration meeting. Each week they would gather to draw a picture on certain topics, and one fortuitous day she would stumble onto the theme, 'a crimson-colored cat'. Dasom would go on to replicate this character all over her works, projecting parts of herself into the character to the point that the artist would envision part of her inner thoughts, dreams, and urges to be projected openly.
Dasom第一次创作拟人化的猫科动物 Crimson Cat（绯红猫）是在她参加的每周一次的插画会议的时候。每周大家都会聚在一起就某些主题画一幅画，有一天她偶然发现“一只深红色的猫”这个主题。Dasom继续在她的作品中复制这个角色，将她自己的一部分投射到角色中，把自己一些内心的想法，梦想和冲动反应在作品中。
“When I think about why I like her so much, she and I have a lot of similarities. She has a mischievous side, and she’s hot-blooded. Sometimes she feels awkward, sometimes she can’t control her emotions. She is also curious and likes to try this and that. Putting Crimson Cat in my works, I’m delivering what I like, what I want to do, and what I like to say to the world.”
“当我思考我为什么这么喜欢她时，我想到她和我有很多相似之处。她有顽皮的一面，而且她非常热血。有时她会感到尴尬，有时她也会无法控制自己的情绪。她也会好奇，喜欢尝试各种东西。Crimson Cat 出现在我的作品中，是我在向世界传达我喜欢的、我想做的和我想说的。”
- Dasom Yun
This would lead her to look back on her developments and changes which she would publish through her first book titled, "Crimson Cat-Little Book".
她的第一本书《绯红猫小书》的出版使她有机会回顾自己的发展和变化。
“Eagle Shooting Heroes” by Dasom Yun
《射雕英雄传之东成西就》Dasom Yun作品
Besides the Crimson Cat, Dasom is a big fan of Hong Kong movies such as “Eagle Shooting Heroes”, and Wong Kar-Wai’s classic “Chungking Express” and often creates inspired images and stickers featuring important objects and foods from these movies.
除了Crimson Cat（绯红猫），Dasom 也是香港电影的忠实粉丝，例如《东成西就》和王家卫经典电影《重庆森林》，她的创作灵感经常来自于这些电影里的重要物品和食物的图像和贴纸。
"Chungking Express" by Dasom Yun
《重庆快车》Dasom Yun作品
“When you watch Hong Kong movies, you always see similar actors again and again, and in this movie, you enjoy watching the famous stars and their comic acting. Personally, I recommend everyone should watch this movie after watching more famous Hong Kong films such as “Days Of Being Wild” and “Chungking Express”…” Chungking Express” is one of my favorite movies. I love the unique atmosphere, the actors’ chemistry, and the general mise-en-scène of the movie. I wanted to make an illustration about it from the moment I first saw it and fell in love.”
“当观看香港电影时，你总是会一遍又一遍地看到类似的演员，而这部电影中，你会享受看到那些著名的明星和他们的表演。就个人而言，我建议大家在看过《阿飞正传》和《重庆森林》等香港著名电影后，再来看这部电影……《重庆森林》是我最喜欢的电影之一。我喜欢电影独特的氛围、演员的化学反应和场景调度。从我第一次看到它并坠入爱河的那一刻起，我就想为它制作一个插图。”
A Blend of Cats and Crime
猫与犯罪的结合
"CATS" by Dasom Yun
Expanding her feline universe, Dasom has an upcoming adult graphic novel to be published as a webtoon titled, “CATS”. The story revolves around three cats who come together by chance to uncover crime cases. It is the amalgamation of her two favorite things, cats and Hong Kong crime cinema. The concept of “CATS” has two contrasts as she not only aims for the work to be read by adults but also children. The first is the wish to convey an educational story with visual nuance while the second is creating a gritty and realistic approach that adults can also comprehend. She ponders about this balancing act as such:
为了扩展她的猫科动物世界观，Dasom出版了一部名为“CATS”的网络成人漫画小说。故事围绕三只猫偶然聚集在一起，揭露犯罪案件展开。这是她最喜欢的两个东西，猫和香港犯罪电影的融合。“CATS”的概念有两个对比，她的目标不仅是面向成人，同时也面向儿童。一来是希望传达在视觉上有细微差别的带有教育性的故事，二是创建一种成年人也可以理解的，兼具坚毅和现实的方法。她这样思考这种平衡行为：
"CATS" by Dasom Yun
“When you see a crime film as an adult, you are already aware crime is bad and forbidden and so just focus on its fluency of plot or the quality of its direction. But children can absorb the whole story without any critical thinking. That’s why, I think, I have to take responsibility for my work as a creator.”
“当你成年后再看犯罪电影时，你已经意识到犯罪是坏的和被禁止的，所以只会关注情节的流畅或影片方向的质量。但是孩子们可以在没有任何批判性思维的情况下吸收整个故事。这就是为什么我认为，作为创作者，我必须对我的工作负责。”
Disintegrating Discrimination through Art
通过艺术消除歧视
Discrimination is a theme that the artist frequently explores. Many of her works depict some of the disparities people experience in their daily lives. Issues of discrimination through hatred, misogyny, beauty, and more are highlighted to be discussed and understood rather than to be promoted. Dasom’s “It’s Okay” series, which is available on Twitter aims to reveal such stories of discrimination through the form of fairy tales.
歧视是Dasom经常探索的主题。她的许多作品中描绘了人们在日常生活中所经历的一些差异。仇恨、厌女症、美貌等引起的歧视问题，需要着重讨论和理解，而不是被宣传。Dasom 在 Twitter 上发布的《没关系》系列作品旨在通过童话的形式揭示这种歧视的故事。
Part one of the series is made up of two tales, “It’s Okay to Be Ugly” and “It’s Okay to Be Fat”. The plot introduces the story of Lizardo the lizard and Dokgodain the crocodile in a world without the discrimination of appearance. Instead of emphasizing the look of the characters, the reader is encouraged to discover the positive sides of the protagonists which in the artist’s words “emphasize the impact of a uniform standard of beauty on women.” When creating the work, Dasom worried about the misinterpretation of its meaning, the title already being a point of distortion and contradiction to some. At the same time, she is constantly exploring the transmission of the messages of works as the series continues.
这个系列的第一部分由两个故事组成，《没关系丑》和《没关系胖》。介绍了在一个没有外貌歧视的世界里，蜥蜴Lizardo和鳄鱼Dokgodain的故事。与其强调人物的外表，不如鼓励读者去发现主角积极的方面，用艺术家的话来说，“强调统一标准对女性的影响”。在创作时，Dasom 担心其含义被误解，标题会成为一些扭曲和矛盾的点。同时，她也在不断探索作品意义的传递与系列的延续。
“You don't even have to say 'it's okay' because it's so natural. And since we are still studying, I worried a lot about whether we might be able to incorporate a narrow-minded perspective into the work. We are not yet 100% satisfied with the results, but we are trying to develop further in the future.”
“你甚至不必说‘没关系’，因为这太自然了。而且由于我们还在学习，我很担心我们是否能够将狭隘的观点融入工作中。我们对结果还不是完全满意，但我们正在努力在未来进一步发展。”
- Dasom Yun
The Road Ahead…
展望艺术家的未来
“Dangun Paper Theatre” by Dasom Yun
Dasom Yun作品 《檀君纸剧院》
Dasom Yun recently held a private exhibition titled “Dangun Paper Theatre” in Yourmana and Dillyhub, which explores a contemporary reinterpretation of Korea’s Dangun mythology (a historical origin myth for the beginnings of Korea as a nation through king Dangun). Taking the ancient art style from the Goryeo Dynasty recreated as a paper theatre.
Dasom Yun 最近在 Yourmana 和 Dillyhub 举办了一场名为“檀君纸剧院”的私人展览，探讨了对韩国檀君神话（韩国通过檀君王开始作为一个国家的历史起源神话）的当代重新诠释。借鉴高丽时代的古代艺术风格，将其重新打造为纸剧院。
From《Microaggression》by Dasom Yun
Furthermore, she has been actively participating in pop-ups creating collectible objects/toys, and working on short indie animation films such as “Microaggression” which has been featured in the Indie-AniFest 2021. Like the “It’s Okay” series, the short film further expands on her exploration of the issue of discrimination, the instances of social discrimination, and the mental strain it brings to humans.
此外，她还积极参与制作收藏品/玩具的快闪店，并制作独立动画短片，例如在2021年Indie-AniFest中展出的“Microaggression”。同样她的《没关系》系列，短片也进一步扩展了她对歧视问题、社会歧视的实例以及它给人类带来的精神压力的探索。
For more info on the artist, please click here
欲了解更多她的作品，请点击这里
Translation 翻译 Rona Xia
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