The practice of American artist Rachel Youn finds its origins in the funny and imaginative nature of illustration and cartoons. Throughout the years, they developed a language made of kinetic installations. Youn creates machines that move like creatures with a life of their own and reflect deeply human qualities. 

In fact, the work of Rachel Youn arises from giving life to objects that missed their purpose. The artist thus primarily works with materials that hold a history of aspiration and failure through secondhand shopping. Made of rescued electric massagers and artificial plants, their sculptures appear absurd, witty, and erotic at times. 

Youn’s odd and sometimes clumsy moving sculptures accept the tension of life and its uncertainty. They deliver personal and collective feelings but with a hint of satire. Especially feelings in relation to sociopolitical aspects such as queerness or failed social standards, and a ‘cosmic loneliness’. Besides, those aspects root deeply in the artist’s biography.