I see this world as if I were a flying dot. Regardless of the storyline or context, it doesn't really matter in the end if we can fly over it like an atom without a trait. It can be either performance or painting or video installation with objects - I make art without a certain destination and just go with the flow, which can lead to unexpected outcomes and I enjoy this process. I want people to vibe with it, and although my art might come from my identity I still try to make it with a universal language, to go beyond current issues in this world through this process.
I was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. My grandmother’s hometown was in the north and once she left she was never able to return there until her funeral. Because of the situation in my home country, I have often been thinking about politics and war. For me both sides were understandable, so I could never find a good reason for all the costs. It seems like in 1st world countries it is so easy to believe that the Cold War is over, although it has never been over. Even now somebody in this world is suffering from the war and the harsh life on the extension line of imperialism. Currently South Korea seems like a very peaceful and prosperous country, but they still have no freedom ideologically.
What is my position as an individual and as a contemporary artist in this situation? At a certain point I noticed the substantial connection in the process of my paintings and aesthetics to the flow of history, then in the end I decided it is all man-made. I sing a song through paintings to go beyond all of these realities. I want to make something serious into nothing, and so, it is worth it to exist now.
A mark or a residue on a surface of my gestures, getting rid of it and then maybe covering it up again with different colours - this is the process of my paintings. There is no beginning nor ending, time is ticking and it is all connected. The existence of pigments on the surface is yelling this at me. Visuals keep making chaos in balance and this tension resembles this world in my eyes. Harmony, tension and battles on the surface, this process is overlapping on the former layers. New ideology becomes a new culture, and a new doctrine will be followed up. New visuals become a new stimulus and it covers up the trace from the past. Then I can ask myself again how can you think so clearly and linearly? Still, it exists in reality, physically. It is a never-ending conflict and harmony on the given surface at the same time with the ‘materiality’ with the sense of a 'refreshing vibe' to go beyond these matters.
There is a lot of information in this world through Instagram, news, internet memes, games and music. Every individual goes through this environment, it is necessary to calm yourself quickly and move on. An infinite world and definite thoughts are crossing each other constantly. I try not to stick in the static point, so I can travel in uncertainty while I am immersed in making a painting, in the end, I present all the moments I collected from all that matters into nothing but visuals. It shows the physical limitation of this universe but keeps trying to guide you towards another dimension to leap off.