The truth in Yeesookyung's Moonlight Crowns

Enchanting and enchanted, the works in Yeesookyung’s Moonlight Crown series capture the viewer’s attention as if they were magnets with an irresistible attractive force. The basic structure of this new series of sculptures, initiated in 2017, includes a small crown supporting a densely decorated sphere over which an elegant spire rises. In our collective imagery, crowns are a symbol of authority, dignity, and immense wealth. They evoke kings and queens who govern by divine right: the moment a crown is placed on someone’s head, that person is not simply a head of state, but becomes endowed with sacred powers. Lastly (but not least), crowns conjure up fairy tales, where intrepid and gallant princes rescue beautiful and pure young ladies, who then become princesses (the secret dream cherished by many women who grew up reading those fairy tales and other works of sentimental fiction). In East Asian cultures, monarchs wore headdresses, but these were not among the most distinctive symbols of power and they looked rather different in shape – apart from the so-called “crowns of Silla,” unearthed from graves dating to the 5th and 6th century CE in Gyeongju.