Dramatically Dyed Acrylic Vases, Injecting Nature Into an Otherwise Industrial Process

The Korean designer Saerom Yoon has been obsessed with dyed acrylic resin since he began his post-graduate work at Seoul’s Hongik University back in 2016. At first, Yoon’s work took the geometric, strictly segmented approach of many other artists who work with the material — in Yoon’s case, in the form of angular tables and sculptures — but one day he noticed the peculiar texture that can naturally appear in the process of making acrylic; it resembled the rippling of calm lake water. Yoon’s work was already inspired by the colors of nature — in particular the sunrise and sunset — so he went about figuring out how to also incorporate nature’s textures into his finished work. His latest series of vases, called Shimmering Lake of Flowers at Dusk, employs the texture, which can also mimic the interplay of clouds, frozen ice, and tree bark to striking effect. In each, gradient bricks of the tempered acrylic are grouped in various orientations, with some hovering dramatically almost in mid-air.