Mutation Of Contemporary Sculptures By Yong Ho Ji

Yong Ho grew up by a school for children with Down’s Syndrome, and the children made an impression that stays with him to this day. “Their smile is very pure. I try to relay that in my animals—the look in their eyes. Somewhat sad, somewhat vulnerable.” He chooses animals that are often seen as “monsters,” then obsesses over every detail—each muscle, sinew and marble eye—to try to “restore them to their natural beauty.”
At first, people found his aesthetic strange, but that’s starting to change. A shark he sculpted recently went for $145,000 at auction But the artist seems oblivious to this. “I’ve been making art non-stop since I was five. Nothing’s changed between then and now. The passion has always been the same.”