My personal life has been influenced by rapid environmental changes that are still co-existing with globalization and multi-cultural products in recent decades. I was born in South Korea and traveled to Europe and America at the age of three. Having lived in America for over twenty years the cultural absence of my birthplace, Korea, was filled by vague childhood memories and cultural lifestyle brought along by my parents. The fundamental question of “who am I” came to the surface when my curiosity of my identity arose. Wanting a completeness of my identity, I started my quest back to my motherland in early 2016. And for the last two years in Korea, I have worked with recreating and recording myself onto a canvas.
An abstract assemblage of mediated layers on various materials and various attempts of combined layers is a frequently appearing strategy throughout my works. Paint functions as a guided tool, bringing me closer to particular memories and experiences. I enjoy the manipulation of formal aspects in my work, as it offers both curiosity and the want to dissect the layers. I develop this abstraction through exploring paints’ ability to be both purely material and formative, accidental yet intentional, unconscious and conscious existing together, because cogent when placed onto a canvas. I strive to retain this sense of ambiguity, leading the viewer to search for meaning in specific elements, marks and the relationships between them.
The cycle of creating alone is appealing. The process itself holds significance in my work. My work labels no finished date – meaning I work layers upon layers consistently to produce a temporarily finalized work. My momentary emotion and reaction to the canvas becomes what it is without hesitation. Every stroke and gesture is to leave traces of my present and current state of being, so eventually with every layer applied – my future and my identity are formed.
